Adjacent Words

Cramp definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CRAMP, n.
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, etc.; a cramp-iron.
CRAMP, v.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, a. Difficult; knotty. [Little used.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: a painful and involuntary muscular contraction [syn: spasm, cramp, muscle spasm]
2: a clamp for holding pieces of wood together while they are glued
3: a strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to hold masonry together [syn: cramp, cramp iron] v
1: secure with a cramp; "cramp the wood"
2: prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather"; "the imperialist nation wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small countries" [syn: hamper, halter, cramp, strangle]
3: affect with or as if with a cramp
4: suffer from sudden painful contraction of a muscle

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English crampe, from Anglo-French, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch crampe; akin to Old High German krampf bent Date: 14th century 1. a painful involuntary spasmodic contraction of a muscle 2. a temporary paralysis of muscles from overuse — compare writer's cramp 3. a. sharp abdominal pain — usually used in plural b. persistent and often intense though dull lower abdominal pain associated with dysmenorrhea — usually used in plural • crampy adjective II. noun Etymology: Middle English crampe, from Middle Dutch Date: 15th century 1. a. a usually iron device bent at the ends and used to hold timbers or blocks of stone together b. clamp 2. a. something that confines ; shackle b. the state of being confined III. verb Date: 15th century transitive verb 1. to affect with or as if with a cramp or cramps 2. a. confine, restrain <was cramped in the tiny apartment> b. to restrain from free expression — used especially in the phrase cramp one's style 3. to fasten or hold with a cramp intransitive verb to be affected with cramps IV. adjective Date: 1674 1. hard to understand or figure out <cramp law terms> <cramp handwriting> 2. being cramped <a cramp corner>

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 a a painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles from the cold, exertion, etc. b = writer's cramp (see WRITER). 2 (also cramp-iron) a metal bar with bent ends for holding masonry etc. together. 3 a portable tool for holding two planks etc. together; a clamp. 4 a restraint. --v.tr. 1 affect with cramp. 2 confine narrowly. 3 restrict (energies etc.). 4 (as cramped adj.) (of handwriting) small and difficult to read. 5 fasten with a cramp. Phrases and idioms: cramp a person's style prevent a person from acting freely or naturally. cramp up confine narrowly. Etymology: ME f. OF crampe f. MDu., MLG krampe, OHG krampfo f. adj. meaning 'bent': cf. CRIMP

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cramp Cramp, n. (Med.) A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as, writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cramp Cramp, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Cramped (kr?mt; 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cramp Cramp (kr[a^]mp), n. [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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

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

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(cramps, cramping, cramped) 1. Cramp is a sudden strong pain caused by a muscle suddenly contracting. You sometimes get cramp in a muscle after you have been making a physical effort over a long period of time. Hillsden was complaining of cramp in his calf muscles... She started getting stomach cramps this morning. N-UNCOUNT: also N in pl 2. If someone or something cramps your style, their presence or existence restricts your behaviour in some way. (INFORMAL) Like more and more women, she believes marriage would cramp her style. PHRASE: V inflects

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. 1. Spasm, crick, convulsion. 2. (Rare.) Check, restriction, restraint, obstruction. 3. Cramp-iron. 4. Cramping-machine, boot-cramp. II. v. a. 1. Affect with spasms, convulse. 2. Restrain, obstruct, hinder, check, confine. 3. Fasten with a cramp, confine or hold with a cramp or cramp-iron. 4. Stretch or shape with a cramp, fashion with a boot-cramp.

Moby Thesaurus

Jacksonian epilepsy, Rolandic epilepsy, abate, abbreviate, abdominal epilepsy, access, ache, aching, acquired epilepsy, activated epilepsy, acute pain, affect epilepsy, affix, akinetic epilepsy, anchor, angustifoliate, angustirostrate, angustisellate, angustiseptal, annex, apoplexy, arrest, arrestation, arrestment, attach, attack, attenuate, autonomic epilepsy, belay, beyond one, bite, blockage, blocking, blow, blunt, bollix, boring pain, bottle up, box, box in, box up, burden, cabin, cardiac epilepsy, casket, cement, charley horse, check, cinch, circumscribe, circumscribed, circumscription, clamp, clinch, clogging, cloister, clonic spasm, clonus, close, close-fitting, closet, closing up, closure, coarct, coffin, compact, complex, compress, concentrate, condense, confine, confined, confinement, consolidate, constipation, constraint, constrict, constricted, constriction, constringe, contract, convulsion, cortical epilepsy, crab, crabbed, cramped, cramping, cramps, crib, crick, crimp, cripple, crowded, cumber, cursive epilepsy, curtail, cut, damp, dampen, darting pain, deaden, debilitate, decrease, delay, detainment, detention, devitalize, difficult, distress, diurnal epilepsy, dolor, draw, draw in, draw together, dull, eclampsia, embarrass, encase, encumber, enervate, enfeeble, engraft, enmesh, ensnarl, entangle, entoil, entomb, entrammel, entrap, entwine, epilepsia, epilepsia gravior, epilepsia major, epilepsia minor, epilepsia mitior, epilepsia nutans, epilepsia tarda, epilepsy, epitasis, eviscerate, exhaust, extenuate, falling sickness, fasten, fetter, fit, fix, fixation, focal epilepsy, foot-dragging, foul up, frenzy, fulgurant pain, garbled, girdle pain, gnawing, graft, grand mal, grapple, grief, grip, griping, gruel, gum, gum up, hamper, hampering, hamstring, handicap, hard, hard to understand, haute mal, hem, hem in, hindering, hindrance, hitch, hobble, holdback, holdup, hurt, hysterical epilepsy, ictus, immure, impede, impediment, incapacious, incommodious, inhibition, injury, interference, interruption, intricate, involve, isthmian, isthmic, jumbled, jumping pain, keep from spreading, keep within bounds, kink, knit, knotty, lame, lancinating pain, larval epilepsy, laryngeal epilepsy, laryngospasm, latent epilepsy, lay low, lesion, let, lime, limit, limitation, limited, localize, lockjaw, louse up, lumber, make fast, matutinal epilepsy, meager, menstrual epilepsy, mitigate, moor, musicogenic epilepsy, myoclonous epilepsy, narrow, nasty blow, near, negativism, net, nip, nocturnal epilepsy, nuisance value, obfuscated, obscure, obscured, obstruction, obstructionism, occlusion, opposition, orgasm, overtechnical, pain, pang, paroxysm, passion, perplexed, petit mal, physiologic epilepsy, pinch, press down, prick, psychic epilepsy, psychomotor epilepsy, pucker, pucker up, purse, put to, qualification, qualify, queer, rattle, reduce, reflex epilepsy, repression, resistance, restraint, restrict, restricted, restriction, retardation, retardment, rotatoria, saddle with, sap, scant, scanty, screw up, secure, seizure, sensory epilepsy, serial epilepsy, set, set to, setback, sexual climax, shackle, shake, shake up, sharp pain, shock, shoot, shooting, shooting pain, shorten, slender, snafu, snarl, soften up, solidify, sore, sore spot, spasm, squeeze, stab, stabbing pain, stint, stitch, stoppage, strait, straiten, strangle, stranglehold, strangulate, stress, stress of life, stricture, stroke, stultification, suffering, suppression, tangle, tardy epilepsy, tender spot, tetanus, tetany, thrill, throes, thromboembolism, thrombosis, tight, tighten, toil, tonic epilepsy, tonic spasm, tormen, torsion spasm, tough, trammel, traumatic epilepsy, trice up, trim, trismus, tweak, twinge, twitch, ucinate epilepsy, unbrace, undermine, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, visitation, weaken, weigh down, wound, wrench, wrinkle