Clogs

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Footwear made primarily of wood, traditionally worn for protection or work ; to cause something to become blocked or filled so it cannot move or function properly
2. Shoes crafted from solid wood commonly used for agriculture or factories ; to prevent normal flow or operation by filling or congestion
3. Hard-soled shoes often carved from wood used in various cultures ; to hinder movement or passage by causing an obstruction

Etymology: "Clogs" is the plural of "clog," and the noun has two strands that rarely seem related. The shoe sense is the older-looking one in everyday life: a clog is a shoe with a thick wooden sole, traditionally worn across many cultures, most famously in the Netherlands. The verb sense, to hinder movement or block a passage, is a different use of the same word, and it is the one that tends to strike readers as odd when they first meet it. The origin of the word is uncertain. The most plausible explanation links it to Middle English "clog," a weight attached to the leg of an animal to stop it wandering, which suggests the idea of something heavy holding back movement. Some scholars trace the family further back to a Proto-Germanic word for "lump, mass, clasp," and related forms appear in Old Norse, meaning a knotty log of wood, and in Dutch "klomp," meaning a wooden shoe. Those connections point toward the sense of a block of wood, which fits the shoe, though the exact path remains unsettled.

Synonyms: obstructions, blockages, stoppers, barriers, impediments

Antonyms: openings, passages, channels, gaps, routes