Meaning & use
clogs
Last updated
“clogs” is a form of “clog”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Shoes with a thick, often wooden sole that are open at the back or fully closed, traditionally worn in some European countries and now also as work or casual footwear.
Grammar: Plural, used with a plural verb; a pair of clogs: the clogs are by the door.
Patterns
- a pair of clogs
She wore bright red clogs in the garden.
Dutch clogs were originally made from a single piece of wood.
The nurses at the hospital all wear comfortable clogs.
verbtransitive or intransitive
Blocks something, such as a pipe or an artery, so that it cannot flow, or becomes blocked.
Grammar: With an object (hair clogs the drain) or without (the drain clogs easily). Third person singular of clog.
Patterns
- clog something
- clog up
Leaves often clog the gutters in autumn.
The pipes clog up whenever someone pours fat down the sink.
Heavy traffic clogs the center of town every morning.
Word forms
| base form | clog |
|---|---|
| past tense | clogged |
| -ing form | clogging |
Common combinations
- a pair of clogs
- I bought a pair of clogs for the garden.
- wooden clogs
- Wooden clogs make a loud noise on stone.
- clogs the drain
- Hair clogs the drain in our shower.
- clogs up
- Dust clogs up the filter.
- clogs the arteries
- Fatty food clogs the arteries over time.
- leather clogs
- He wears leather clogs in the kitchen.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sabots
- Are traditional French wooden shoes and sound more specialized.
- mules
- Are backless slip-on shoes that may have a thin sole.
- blocks
- Is a plainer verb for stopping flow, with less sense of slow build-up.
- jams
- Suggests something stuck tight, often a machine or a door.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: clogs or cogs?
clogs vs cogs
Are the toothed parts of a machine's wheel, unlike clogs, which are shoes or blockages.
Practice
Fat poured down the sink often ____ the pipes over time.
Choose one answer.
'Clogs' means blocks so nothing passes through; the others describe movement of liquid, not blocking.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “clogs”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.