Definitions
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A small piece of some hard substance, as of ivory or coral, given to children to bite on for the purpose of relieving the pains of teething.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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Certainly not: the thumb is the best gum-stick in the world: -- it is convenient; it is handy (in every sense of the word): it is of the right size, and of the proper consistence, neither too hard nor too soft; there is no danger, as of some artificial gum-sticks, of its being swallowed, and thus of its choking the child.
Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Pye Henry Chavasse 1844
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If a piece of crust be given as a gum-stick, he must, while biting it, be well watched, or by accident he might loosen a large piece of it, which might choke him.
Advice to a Mother on the Management of Her Children Pye Henry Chavasse 1844
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At length his good resolutions stagger, and he partakes of the smallest particle, which produces a most exhilarating effect; in less then ten minutes he tastes again and again, always increasing the quantity; and in half an hour he has a gum-stick of condensed snow, which he masticates with avidity, and replaces with assiduity the moment that it has melted away.
Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 458 Volume 18, New Series, October 9, 1852 Various 1841
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