clamp

pronunciation

How to pronounce clamp in British English: UK [klæmp]word uk audio image

How to pronounce clamp in American English: US [klæmp] word us audio image

  • Noun:
    a device (used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together
  • Verb:
    fasten or fix with a clamp
    impose or inflict forcefully

Word Origin

clamp
clamp: see climb
clamp (n.)
device for fastening, c. 1300, probably from clamb, perhaps originally past tense of climb (v.), or from Middle Dutch clampe (Dutch klamp), from West Germanic *klamp- "clamp, cleat;" cognate with Middle Low German klampe "clasp, hook," Old High German klampfer "clip, clamp;" also probably related to Middle Dutch klamme "a clamp, hook, grapple," Danish klamme "a clamp, cramp," Old English clamm "fetter;" see clam (n.).
clamp (v.)
"to fasten with a clamp," 1670s, from clamp (n.). Related: Clamped; clamping.