cramp

nounverbadjectiveattested in dialogue

//kɹæmp//

A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled; (sometimes) a similar pain even without noticeable contraction.

noun

1
A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled; (sometimes) a similar pain even without noticeable contraction.
He retired hurt at 31 due to a leg cramp.
August 1534, Margaret Roper (or Thomas More in her name), letter to Alice Alington the cramp also that divers nights gripeth him in his legs.
2
That which confines or contracts.
A narrow Fortune is undoubtedly a Cramp to a great Mind.
How does it grate upon his thankleſs ear, / 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.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Frankish *krampōder. Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Middle Dutch crampeder. Old French crampebor. Middle English crampe English cramp From Middle English crampe, from Old French crampe (“cramp”), from Frankish *krampa (“cramp”), from Proto-West Germanic *krampu, from Proto-Germanic *krampō (“cramp, clasp”). Distant relative of English crop.

verb

1
(of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.
2
To affect with cramps or spasms.
The collar of the tunic scratched my neck, the steel helmet made my head ache, and the puttees cramped my leg muscles.
3
figurativeTo prohibit movement or expression of.
You're cramping my style.
But the front of the animal , which was in full , was narrow and cramped , and unequal in dignity to the side
4
To restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp.
You're going to need to cramp the wheels on this hill.
when the gout cramps my joints
5
To fasten or hold with, or as if with, a cramp iron.
6
To bind together; to unite.
The […] fabric of universal justice is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts.
7
To form on a cramp.
to cramp boot legs

adjective

1
archaiccramped; narrow
[…] the result was those folio volumes of MSS. now in the British Museum, in which inquirers into the history of that period find so much interesting material in such a confused state and in such a dreadfully cramp handwriting.

Forms

plural: cramps
comparative: more cramp
superlative: most cramp
past tense: cramped
past participle: cramped
present participle: cramping
third person singular: cramps

Craig · A surname.cram · To press, force, or drive, particularly in filling, or in…Cram · A surname.

cramp · A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled; (sometimes) a similar pain even without noticeable contraction.

Cramp · A surname.cramped · Uncomfortably restricted in size or space, or financially.cramps · A cramping of muscles, especially in the abdomen or uterus.

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