Meaning
A painful abscess or boil on the gum — a swollen, throbbing lump in the mouth, usually caused by a bad or decaying tooth. A common ailment, the gum-boil is treated at home with salt-water rinses, a clove pressed against it, or bush remedies, often before, or instead of, the dreaded trip to the dentist. Sore, tender, and hard to ignore, it belongs to the everyday talk of aches and home cures, one of the familiar small miseries of the mouth that the household remedies are pressed into service against.
Examples
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Mi have a gum-boil, mi mout a hurt mi.
I have a gum boil; my mouth is hurting me.
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Rinse wid salt water fi di gum-boil.
Rinse with salt water for the gum boil.
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Di gum-boil swell up di whole side a him face.
The gum boil swelled up the whole side of his face.
Origin
From 'gum' + 'boil' (an abscess); a gum abscess. See [[swell-up]], [[bad-blood]].
How it’s used
A gum abscess from a bad tooth; home-treated with salt water/clove. See [[swell-up]].