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Webster 1913 Edition

Cramp

Cramp

(krămp)
,
Noun.
[OE.
crampe
,
craumpe
; akin to D. & Sw.
kramp
, Dan.
krampe
, G.
krampf
(whence F.
crampe
), Icel.
krappr
strait, narrow, and to E.
crimp
,
crumple
; cf.
cram
. See
Grape
.]
1.
That which confines or contracts; a restraint; a shackle; a hindrance.
A narrow fortune is a
cramp
to a great mind.
L’Estrange.
Crippling his pleasures with the
cramp
of fear.
Cowper.
2.
(Masonry)
A device, usually of iron bent at the ends, used to hold together blocks of stone, timbers, etc.; a cramp iron.
3.
(Carp.)
A rectangular frame, with a tightening screw, used for compressing the joints of framework, etc.
4.
A piece of wood having a curve corresponding to that of the upper part of the instep, on which the upper leather of a boot is stretched to give it the requisite shape.
5.
(Med.)
A spasmodic and painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, as of the leg.
The
cramp
, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs.
Sir T. More.
Cramp bone
,
the patella of a sheep; – formerly used as a charm for the cramp.
Halliwell.
“He could turn cramp bones into chess men.”
Dickens.
–
Cramp ring
,
a ring formerly supposed to have virtue in averting or curing cramp, as having been consecrated by one of the kings of England on Good Friday.

Cramp

,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cramped
(krămt; 215);
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cramping
.]
1.
To compress; to restrain from free action; to confine and contract; to hinder.
The mind my be as much
cramped
by too much knowledge as by ignorance.
Layard.
2.
To fasten or hold with, or as with, a cramp.
3.
Hence,
to bind together; to unite.
The . . . fabric of universal justic is well
cramped
and bolted together in all its parts.
Burke.
4.
To form on a cramp;
as, to
cramp
boot legs
.
5.
To afflict with cramp.
When the gout
cramps
my joints.
Ford.
To cramp the wheels of wagon
,
to turn the front wheels out of line with the hind wheels, so that one of them shall be against the body of the wagon.

Cramp

,
Adj.
[See
Cramp
,
Noun.
]
Knotty; difficult.
[R.]
Care being taken not to add any of the
cramp
reasons for this opinion.
Coleridge.

Webster 1828 Edition

Cramp

CRAMP

,
Noun.
1.
Spasm; the contraction of a limb, or some muscle of the body, attended with pain, and sometimes with convulsions, or numbness.
2.
Restraint; confinement; that which hinders from motion or expansion.
A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind.
3.
A piece of iron bent at the ends, serving to hold together pieces of timber, stones, &c.; a cramp-iron.

CRAMP

,
Verb.
T.
1.
To pain or affect with spasms.
2.
To confine; to restrain; to hinder from action or expansion; as, to cramp the exertions of a nation; to cramp the genius.
3.
To fasten, confine or hold with a cramp or cramp-iron.

CRAMP

,
Adj.
Difficult; knotty. [Little used.]

Definition 2024

cramp

cramp

English

Noun

cramp ‎(plural cramps)

  1. A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled.
    • Sir T. More
      The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs.
  2. That which confines or contracts; a restraint; a shackle; a hindrance.
    • L'Estrange
      A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind.
    • Cowper
      crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear
  3. A clamp for carpentry or masonry.
  4. A piece of wood having a curve corresponding to that of the upper part of the instep, on which the upper leather of a boot is stretched to give it the requisite shape.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

cramp ‎(third-person singular simple present cramps, present participle cramping, simple past and past participle cramped)

  1. (intransitive) (of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.
  2. (transitive) To prohibit movement or expression.
    You're cramping my style.
    • Layard
      The mind may be as much cramped by too much knowledge as by ignorance.
  3. (transitive) To restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp.
    You're going to need to cramp the wheels on this hill.
    • Ford
      when the gout cramps my joints
  4. To fasten or hold with, or as if with, a cramp.
  5. (by extension) To bind together; to unite.
    • Burke
      The […] fabric of universal justice is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts.
  6. To form on a cramp.
    to cramp boot legs

Translations

References

  • “cramp” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).

Manx

Adjective

cramp

  1. intricate, complex

Derived terms

  • neuchramp

Mutation

Manx mutation
Radical Lenition Eclipsis
cramp chramp gramp
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every
possible mutated form of every word actually occurs.

Etymology

From Middle English crampe, from Old French crampe, cranpe ‎(“cramp”), from Old Frankish *krampa ‎(“cramp”), from Proto-Germanic *krampō ‎(“cramp, clasp”), from Proto-Indo-European *grem- ‎(“to unite; lap, pile, heap”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- ‎(“to unite, collect, forgather”). Cognate with Dutch kramp ‎(“cramp”), German Low German Kramp ‎(“cramp”), German Krampe and Krampf ‎(“cramp”), Swedish kramp ‎(“cramp”), Icelandic krampa ‎(“cramp”). See also Proto-Germanic *kruppaz ‎(“lump, round mass, body, crop”), Ancient Greek ἀγείρω ‎(ageírō, “I gather, collect”), whence ἀγορά ‎(agorá), Latin grex.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /kɹæmp/
  • Rhymes: -æmp

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