cramp
pronunciation
How to pronounce cramp in British English:
UK [kræmp]
How to pronounce cramp in American English:
US [kræmp]
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- Noun:
- a painful and involuntary muscular contraction
- a clamp for holding pieces of wood together while they are glued
- a strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to hold masonry together
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- Verb:
- secure with a cramp
- prevent the progress or free movement of
Word Origin
- cramp (n.1)
- "muscle contraction," late 14c., from Old French crampe, from a Frankish or other Germanic word (compare Old High German krapmhe "cramp, spasm," related to kramph "bent, crooked"), from a Proto-Germanic root forming many words for "bent, crooked," including, via French, crampon. Writer's cramp is first attested 1842 as the name of a physical affliction of the hand, in reference to translations of German medical papers (Stromeyer); also known as scrivener's palsy.
- cramp (n.2)
- "metal bar bent at both ends," early 15c., from Middle Dutch crampe or Middle Low German krampe, both from the same Proto-Germanic root that yielded cramp (n.1). Metaphoric sense of "something that confines or hinders" first recorded 1719.
- cramp (v.1)
- "to contract" (of muscles), early 15c., from cramp (n.1). Related: Cramped; cramping.
- cramp (v.2)
- "to bend or twist," early 14c., from cramp (n.2) and Old French crampir. Later "compress forcibly" (1550s), and, figuratively, "to restrict" (1620s). Related: Cramped; cramping.
Example
- 1. Thanks for watching video how to deal with foot cramp
- 2. His legs have cramp from fasting , for over a week , beside his 74-year-old leader .
- 3. They lobby vigorously against anything that might cramp their freedom .
- 4. This might cramp the style of one or two medical geniuses , but it also raised ordinary physicians to a consistently high standard .
- 5. Gerard lyons , chief economist at standard chartered , argues that most emerging economies are not plagued by america 's deep structural problems , such as an overhang of debt , which could cramp growth for several years .