glom
verb/ɡlɒm/
Etymology From Scottish English glom, glaum (“to grab or snatch at”), a variant of clam, claum (“to clutch, seize, grasp, reach for”), from Middle English *clammen, from Old English clæmman (“to pinch, press, inclose”), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan. Related to clamp.
1
Informal To take.
- Mac glommed a handful of Bott's hair and ear and twisted it, “Ya be listenin' ta me now that I 'ave yer attention. And ifin ya don't, I'll be obliged ta hack off yer pretty little ear wif me blade. Would ya like that, Mr. Mouth,[…]2013 October 18, Thom Thomas, ...Give or Take a Shilling.: Discovery, Xlibris Corporation, →ISBN, page 380:
- As soon as I was alone I glommed a quick gander into the bedroom, saw the Bonham punk was resting quietly under the covers. I withdrew, made myself cozy in an easy chair, began burning gaspers and reading magazines.2014 August 14, Robert Leslie Bellem, Coffin for a Coward, eStar Books, →ISBN:
1 more example
- Currently scripting RKO B westerns, under yet another monicker, the work fronted by a politically acceptable hack writer who glommed a 35 percent cut.2019 June 4, James Ellroy, The L.A. Quartet: The Black Dahlia, The Big Nowhere, L.A. Confidential, White Jazz; Introduction by Tom Nolan, Everyman's Library, →ISBN, page 499:
2
Informal To grab hold of, seize; catch, grab or latch onto.
- Winslow glommed at once onto the benefits of such an arrangement. “So I would set the terms, conditions, and whatever fee I chose to pay myself?” “You catch on quick!” said the cuddly clerk impishly.2008 December 31, Merritt Abrash, Things in Heaven and Earth, Author House, →ISBN, page 274:
- known what she was thinking, for his mind had glommed at the same time onto the same possibility: that Margo's grumpy but otherwise seemingly harmless, neighbor, whom they had interviewed before, could, after all, be the kidnapper.2010 August 1, Linda O. Johnston, Not a Moment Too Soon, Silhouette, →ISBN, page 98:
2 more examples
- Bisexuals, she said, glommed onto lesbians because they feared their fathers, or had been devastated by ex-boyfriends.2014 May 28, Sarah Terez Rosenblum, “After 15 Years Of Lesbianism, I'm Dating Men And I Have No Idea What I'm Doing”, in XOJane, archived from the original on 31 May 2014:
- In short, blood comes through the artery (arteriole) and material gloms onto the nephron before twisting through the near (proximal) tubes, looping the loop, twisting through the distant (distal) tubes, and collecting itself at the other end.2015, Janet Rae-Dupree, Pat DuPree, Anatomy and Physiology Workbook For Dummies, 2nd edition, page 217:
3
Informal To clump up, to seize together into a lump or conglomeration.
- “The oil pan cracked, the engine seized, and the internal parts glommed together.”2000, Jodi Picoult, Plain Truth, page 17:
- Her frosty red lipstick kept glomming at the corners of her mouth, giving her an unnatural clown frown. Hailey later heard they, too, had divorced. Standing there, facing Leonard's steely gaze and imposing figure, Hailey had no problem[…]2009 August 11, Nancy Grace, The Eleventh Victim, Hachette Books, →ISBN:
1 more example
- The following day when Fiona had gone to pour the poteen into a smaller bottle so that she could use the bigger one to store cooking oil, nearly a half a dozen undissolved aspirin tablets were glommed at the bottom of the bottle.2013 November 11, Susan Kiernan-Lewis, The Irish End Games, Books 1-3, Susan Kiernan-Lewis: