Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CLOG, v.t. [W. cleg, a lump; clug, a swelling, roundness; clog, a large stone; lloc, a mound, a dam; llog, an augment; llogi, to make compact, to hire, L. loco; Ir. loc, a stop; locaim, to hinder. These coincide with Eng. lock, in primary sense, or may be from the same root. But clog, though of the same family, seems not to be directly derived from either of these words.]

1. To load or fill with something that retards or hinders motion; as, to clog the channel of a river; to clog a passage.
2. To put on any thing that encumbers, with a view to hinder or restrain leaping; to shackle; as, to clog a beast.
3. To load with any thing that encumbers; to burden; to embarrass; as, to clog commerce with impositions or restrictions. – Addison.
4. To obstruct natural motion, or render it difficult; to hinder; to impede.