glaum

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.