glaum means to grasp or snatch (at), usually feebly or ineffectually; to grope (at) with the hands, as in the dark. It carries an Arena rating of 1714, earned across 156 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, glaum ranks #379 of 17,163 for Funniest Words, #503 of 17,151 for The Improbable, #549 of 17,140 for Most Whimsical Words, #953 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words.
Why “glaum” is a great word
GLAUM — [Verb] To grasp or snatch at something feebly or ineffectually, especially by groping with the hands; or, to look sullen. From dialectal English clam, claum, from Middle English *clammen, *clemmen, from Old English clæmman, clemman ("to press, squeeze"), from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan, from Proto-Germanic *klamjaną ("to squeeze, press"). Influenced in some senses by clamber. Compare Scots clam, claum and doublet glom. Unlike "grab," which implies a firm, decisive seizure, or "scowl," which specifies an angry frown, glaum describes a desultory clutch or a sullenness tinged with dejection. It is the arthritic hand clutching at a falling napkin, the child's futile swipe at a firefly, or the dull, downward cast of eyes in a rain-smeared window—a word for attempts that are, from the start, defeated by their own lethargy.
Etymology
Alteration of dialectal clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), from Middle English *clammen, *clemmen, from Old English clæmman, clemman, from Proto-West Germanic *klammjan, from Proto-Germanic *klamjaną. In some senses, likely influenced by clamber. Compare dialectal glaump, glamp (“to grasp, snatch at, clutch, grope", also "gulp”), Scots clam, claum (“to grope or grasp ineffectually, snatch”), Norwegian klemme (“to seize with claws”), Middle High German klemmen (“to squeeze”). Doublet of glom. Related also to English clamp.
verb
- To grasp or snatch (at), usually feebly or ineffectually; to grope (at) with the hands, as in the dark.e.g.“My heart, for fear, gaed sough for sough, / To hear the thuds, and see the cluds / O' clans frae woods, in tartan duds, / Wha glaum'd at kingdoms three.” — 1789, “The Battle of Sherramuir”, Burns, Robert (lyrics):
- To search (for something).
- To look sullen or sad; scowl, frown.
- To look (at), to stare (at).e.g.“He drummed on the table, glauming at me and through me until I wondered if I should count the interview ended. Then of a sudden he shouted, […]” — 1954, Margaret Cooper Gay, Hatchet in the Sky, a Novel, New York : Simon and Schuster:
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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