Cramp

Definition: Cramp

Cramp

Noun

1. A painful and involuntary muscular contraction.

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.

Verb

1. Secure with a cramp.

2. Prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather".

Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
 

Date "cramp" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references)

Etymology: Cramp \Cramp\ (kr[a^]mp), noun. [Old English crampe, craumpe; akin to Dutch & Swedish kramp, Danish krampe, German krampf (whence French crampe), Icelandic krappr strait, narrow, and to English crimp, crumple; compare to cram. See Grape.]. (references)

Transportation

Mining

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Synonyms: Cramp

Connection

Pin, corking pin, nail, brad, tack, skewer, staple, corrugated fastener; clamp, U-clamp, C-clamp; cramp, cramp iron; ratchet, detent, larigo, pawl; terret, treenail, screw, button, buckle; clasp, hasp, hinge, hank, catch, latch, bolt, latchet, tag; tooth; hook, hook and eye; lock, holdfast, padlock, rivet; anchor, grappling iron, trennel, stake, post.

Contraction

Render smaller, lessen, diminish, contract, draw in, narrow, coarctate; boil down; constrict, constringe; condense, compress, squeeze, corrugate, crimp, crunch, crush, crumple up, warp, purse up, pack, squeeze, stow; pinch, tighten, strangle; cramp; dwarf, bedwarf; shorten; circumscribe; restrain.

Hindrance

Cramp, hamper; clog, clog the wheels; cumber; encumber, incumber; handicap; choke; saddle with, load with; overload, lay; lumber, trammel, tie one's hands, put to inconvenience; incommode, discommode; discompose; hustle, corner, drive into a corner.

Impotence

Render powerless; Adjective: deprive of power; disable, disenable; disarm, incapacitate, disqualify, unfit, invalidate, deaden, cramp, tie the hands; double up, prostrate, paralyze, muzzle, cripple, becripple, maim, lame, hamstring, draw the teeth of; throttle, strangle, garrotte, garrote; ratten, silence, sprain, clip the wings of, put hors de combat, spike the guns; take the wind out of one's sails, scotch the snake, put a spoke in one's wheel; break the neck, break the back; unhinge, unfit; put out of gear.

Littleness

Adjective: little; small; minute, diminutive, microscopic; microzoal; inconsiderable; (unimportant); exiguous, puny, tiny, wee, petty, minikin, miniature, pygmy, pigmy, elfin; undersized; dwarf, dwarfed, dwarfish; spare, stunted, limited; cramp, cramped; pollard, Liliputian, dapper, pocket; portative, portable; duodecimo; dumpy, squat; short.

Physical Pain

Spasm, cramp; nightmare, ephialtes; crick, thrill, convulsion, throe; throb. (agitation); pang; colic; kink.

Weakness

Render weak; Adjective: weaken, enfeeble, debilitate, shake, deprive of strength, relax, enervate, eviscerate; unbrace, unnerve; cripple, unman; (render powerless); cramp, reduce, sprain, strain, blunt the edge of; dilute, impoverish; decimate; extenuate; reduce in strength, reduce the strength of; mettre de l'eau dans son vin.

Crosswords: Cramp

Manx (complex; plague, intricate).

I got a cramp! (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer)

Maybe you should work without me more often, I think I cramp your style (Third Watch; writing credit: Grant Taylor)

You fake a stomach cramp, and when you're bent over, moaning and wailing, you lick your palms (Ferris Bueller's Day Off; writing credit: John Hughes)

Jackson, stop, you're gonna give me a cramp! (Gilmore Girls; writing credit: Povl Erik Carstensen; Sebastian Dorset)

The Cramp Twins (2001)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Books

• Image and Power in the Archaeology of Early Medieval Britain: Essay in Honour of Rosemary Cramp (reference)

• Shipbuilding at Cramp & Sons : a history and guide to collections of the William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company (1830-1927) and the Cramp Shipbuilding Company (1941-46) of Philadelphia (reference)

• The CRAMP approach to the teaching of social and life skills and a glossary of selected social skills and training terms (reference)

• The Cramp Twins (reference)

• The Cramp Twins: Opposites Attack! (Cramp Twins) (reference)

  (more book examples)

Music

• Cramp Like a Fox [IMPORT] (reference)

  (more classical music examples; more popular music examples)

Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits.

Fitting out at the Cramp shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, circa 1906. Credit: NAVY.

Being prepared for launching at the William Cramp & Son shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 9 October 1923. Credit: NAVY.

Miss Mary Josephine Keyworth Broome, ship's Sponsor, with her party at Broome's christening ceremonies, 14 May 1919. The ship was built at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Miss Broome was granddaughter of Lieutenant Colonel John Lloyd Broome, USMC, in whose honor USS Broome was named. Her attendants, at left, are wearing the War Service uniform of the Emergency Aid. Credit: NAVY.

Workmen on board the submarine, 30 October 1912, while she was fitting out at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The man standing 3rd from left, in the second row, is William H.F. Michel. Credit: NAVY.

Photographed upon completion, circa July 1918. Location is probably the Cramp Shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is painted with a disruptive camouflage pattern. Credit: NAVY.

Launching, at the William Cramp & Sons shipyard, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 15 August 1912. Credit: NAVY.

Charles H. Cramp. Credit: Library of Congress.

Southern remedies. HAH & Co. [device]. The Hindoo remedy for asiatic cholera, cholera morbus, dysentery, diarrhea, cramp colic, & c. Prepared by H.A. Hughes & Co., druggists, Louisville, Ky. Credit: Library of Congress.

Cramp's [i.e. William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company] shipyard, Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Library of Congress.

Building a warship, Cramp's [i.e. William Cramp & Sons Ship and Engine Building Company] shipyard, Philadelphia, Pa. Credit: Library of Congress.

Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits.

Source: compiled by the editor from various references.

Health

Similar focal dystonias have also been called typist's cramp, pianist's cramp, and musician's cramp. (references)

Writer's cramp is a dystonia that affects the muscles of the hand and sometimes the forearm, and only occurs during handwriting. (references)

The spasms are often precipitated by voluntary contractions and include occupational dystonias such as writer's cramp and musician's cramp. (references)

Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits.

Expressions using "cramp": abdominal cramp ♦ ballet dancer's cramp ♦ CRAMP BARK ♦ Cramp bone ♦ Cramp iron ♦ cramp joke ♦ cramp palsy or spasm ♦ Cramp ray ♦ Cramp ring ♦ cramp smb.'s style ♦ enameller's cramp ♦ Floor cramp ♦ forged cramp ♦ have a cramp ♦ have cramp in one's leg ♦ intermittent cramp ♦ milker's cramp ♦ milkmaid's cramp ♦ Muscle Cramp ♦ musician's cramp ♦ pianist's cramp ♦ pianoforte player's cramp ♦ sawyers cramp ♦ sawyer's cramp ♦ scrivener's cramp ♦ seamtress's cramp ♦ sewer's cramp ♦ smith's cramp ♦ telegraph clerk's cramp ♦ telegraph writer's cramp ♦ telegrapher's cramp ♦ telegraphist's cramp ♦ To cramp the wheels of wagon ♦ vaginal cramp ♦ violin cellist's cramp ♦ violincellist's cramp ♦ violinist's cramp ♦ writers cramp ♦ Writer's cramp. Additional references.

Beginning with "cramp": cramp-fish, cramp-holes, cramp-like, cramp-tight.

Ending with "cramp": g-cramp.

Albanian

spazëm (convulsion, spasm), shtrënguese (dog, shackle), shtrëngoj me kllapa, pengesë (balk, bar, barrier, baulk, block, boom, chock, clog, crash barrier, cumber, detention, difficulty, dike, disadvantage, drag, drawback, encumbrance, fetter, handicap, hedge, hindrance, hitch, hold up, holdback, hurdle, impediment, interference, interruption, jamming, liability, manacle, mash, obstacle, obstruction, preclusion, pullback, retardation, retardment, rub, setback, stay, stoppage, stumbling block, stumbling-stone, stunt, traverse, trip up), ngushtoj (constrict, narrow, slenderize, straiten, tighten), ngërç (kink), mpij (benumb, blunt, drowse, dull, numb, stupefy), morsetë (clamp), kufizim (limitation, narrowness, qualification, reservation, reserve, restraint, stint, stricture), kllapë (clip, cog, damper, dovetail, mortise, parenthesis, rabbet, scarf, valve). (various references)

Arabic 

‏ملزمة (fascicle, vise), ‏مغص حاد, ‏مغص (belly ache, colic, gripes, stomach ache, suffer from colic), ‏وثاق (bond), ‏تشنج (convulse, convulsion, flutter, squirm, tense), ‏عقال, ‏عاق (baffle, balk, block, delay, derange, detain, deter, dirty, discourage, disloyal, disturb, embarrass, encumber, estop, handicap, hinder, hobble, hurt, impede, impious, interrupt, penalize, preclude, prevent, retard, set back, shackle, stifle, thankless, thwart, tie up, trammel, trap, undutiful, ungrateful, unthankful), ‏طمث مؤلم, ‏ثبت بملزم (clamp), ‏شنج (convulse). (various references)

Bulgarian 

схващане (apprehension, comprehension, conception, grasp, idea, kink, notion, opinion, outlook, perception, prehension, understanding, uptake, view), спъвам (beset, clog, embarrass, entangle, fetter, hinder, hobble, impede, interfere, preclude, prevent, prohibit, retard, set back, shackle, short circuit, snag, snub, tie, trammel, trig), спънка (backset, balk, baulk, countercheck, difficulty, drawback, hindrance, hitch, hobble, impediment, interference, interruption, kink, liability, manacle, obstacle, preclusion, pull back, setback, shoal, stumbling block), спазъм (pang, throe), целик (pillar, post), крамп, затягам (clamp, close, lock, screw up, straiten), причинявам схващане, парализиращо въздействие, парализирам (cripple, palsy, paralyse, paralyze, torpedo). (various references)

Chinese 

抽疯 (Cramping), �'釘 , 夾子 . (various references)

Czech

svìrák (clamp, vice, vise), postihnout křeèí, křeè (convulsion, spasm, twitch). (various references)

Danish

krampe (clip, convulsion, hasp, hook, hook joint, loop, muscle cramp, staple, unsound), hjælpegriber (grouser, lug, spike, strake, tire stud), gribetang (davit), baenkhage. (various references)

Dutch

spike (grouser, lug, spike, strake, tire stud), kram (clip, hook, staple), klemhaak (dogs, forceps, pliers, tweezers), hoepeltang (davit). (various references)

Esperanto

stajo (brace, cramp-iron), murkrampo (brace, cramp-iron), armaturo (armature, brace, cramp-iron). (various references)

Farsi 

محدودکننده , محدودکردن (Bound, Compass, Confine, Curb, Dam, Gag, Impale, Limit, Narrow, Qualify, Quantify, Restrict, Stint, Straiten, Terminate), چنگه , چنگوک , گرفتگی عضلات , حصار (Barrier, Enclosure, Fence, Fold, Fort, Hag, Hedge, Inclose, Wall), سیخدارکردن , جاتنگ کردن , انقباض ماهیچه دراثرکارزیاد, درقیدگذاشتن , دردشکم . (various references)

Finnish

suonenveto, kouristus (convulsion), kouristaa (convulsion). (various references)

French

crampe. (various references)

German

Krampf (convulsion, fit, paroxysm, spasm), einklammern (bracket, brecket, parenthesize, put in brackets). (various references)

Greek 

κράμπα. (various references)

Hebrew 

מלחצת, מכוץ (contraction, spasm), ל�"�'ביל (confine, constrict, limit, qualify, restrict, tie up), ל�'רום ל�"תכוצות, �"תכוצות שרירים (spasm). (various references)

Hungarian

görcs (catalepsy, convulsion, Crick, fit, gnarl, joint, kink, knot, spasm, wart), befogópofa (clam, clamp, clip, dog, grip, jaw, wedge), csőszorító (clam, clamp), csavaros szorító, felsőrész-sámfa, feszélyezett (constrained, cramped, embarrassed, self-conscious, stiff), feszélyezettség (constraint, discomfort, self-consciousness), béklyó (bands, clog, drag, fetter, fetterlock, hobble, hopple, plummet, shackle, side line), kényelmetlen (awkward, comfortless, cramped, cumbersome, inconvenient, rough, uncomfortable, uneasy), vaskapocs (brace, dog, staple), kétágú derékszögmérő, kapocsvas (holdfast), nyomás (impression, load, press, pressing, pressure, stress, tension), satu (chuck, clam, clamp, vice, vise), szorítás (clench, grab, grip, pinch, pressure, splice, squeeze, wring), szoros (cove, cramped, defile, gullet, narrow, narrows, near, pass, serried, strait, strict, taut, tense, tight), szorult helyzet (a tight squeeze, push, tight corner, tight squeeze), görcsös (convulsive, fitful, spasmodic, spastic). (various references)

Indonesian

kram, kejang (convulse, convulsion, crick, spasm). (various references)

Italian

crampo (Crick), cane (brute, dog, hammer, pooch), uncino da banco di lavoro, spasma (spasm), rampone di aderenza (grouser, lug, spike, strake, tire stud), pinza (claw, nipper, pliers, tongs), impacciare (clog, cumber, encumber, hamper, hinder), gancio (catch, clasp, clip, crook, crotchet, fastener, fastening, hanger, hook), arpese (clamp). (various references)

Japanese Kanji 

鎹 (clamp), 筋違い (illogical, intersection, sprain), 引き吊り (scar). (various references)

Japanese Katakana 

すじちがい (illogical, intersection, sprain), すじちかい (illogical, intersection, sprain), ひきつり (scar, spasm, twitch), かすがい (clamp). (various references)

Korean 

꺽� . (various references)

Manx

cur arkfeh da, crampey (cramp iron), arkfeh. (various references)

Norwegian

krampe. (various references)

Pig Latin

ampcray.(various references)

Portuguese

grampo (brace, bracket, clam, clamp, clasp, claw, clinch, clincher, clip, dog nail, grab, holdfast, locket, parenthesis, spike, staple, tie-plate). (various references)

Romanian

crispa (contract, writhe), crampe, contracţie (contraction, working), constrângere (bondage, check, coercion, compulsion, constraint, disincentive, duresse, enforcement, force, impulsion, pressure, restraint, restriction, servitude, stress), colici (mulligrubs), clemã (clamp, clasp, cleat, fastener, Gib, holdfast, paper clip, yoke), clamã (clamp, clincher, clip, fastener), cârcel (kink, tendril), strânge (accrete, accumulate, acerbate, acquire, agglomerate, amass, assemble, bind, call, chuck, clamp, clasp, clear, clench, close, collect, compress, concentrate, congregate, constrain, constrict, contract, converge, convolve, crop, crouch, crowd, crush, cull, cut, diminish, double, fasten, fold, force, garner, gather, glean, harvest, haul, hoard, house, hug, jam, lay aside, lay by, lay in, lay up, levy, lock, lump, make up, mass, muster, nip, pack, pick, pick up, pile, pile on, pinch, press, put away, put by, rake together, rake up, rally, reap, screw, shrink, shut, squeeze, stifle, stock, store, straighten, strain, straiten, suffocate, take up, tighten, troop, warehouse), scoabã (bracer, chisel, clamp, clasp, clench, clincher, clip, crampon, dog, Gib, gouge, link, staple, strap, yoke), provoca crampe, paralizie localã, fixa cu scoabã, agrafã (brooch, clasp, fastener, hairpin, hook, snap, staple). (various references)

Russian 

судорога (convulsion, crick, kink, spasm, spastics, twitch), стеснять (embarrass, encumber, incommode, press, straiten, straitens), скоба (clamp, clevis, clip, holdfast, hook, rim, shackle, staple, strap, yoke), сводить судорогой, сводить судорога, спазма (spasm), резь (gripe, gripes, griping, mulligrubs), колика (colic, gripe), зажимать (clip, jam, jig, pinch), зажим (adapter, clamp, clasp, clinch, clip, dog, grip, gripe, lock). (various references)

Scottish

drumlagan (a cramp in back). (various references)

Serbo-Croatian

stega (carpenter-bee, clamp, holdfast, squeezer, staple), sputati (bind, fetter, hamper, hobble, hopple, tie, trammel), skučiti (straiten), klamfa, grč (kink, spasm). (various references)

Spanish

grapa (clamp, clip, holdfast, paper fastener, staple), calambre (charley horse, spasm). (various references)

Swedish

kramp (spasm). (various references)

Turkish

tutmak (abide by, add up to, affect, Bate, be, bespeak, bind, book, catch, charter, check, choke, choke back, choke down, choke off, claw hold of, clench, clutch, cog, cohere, come to, confine, constrain, contain, cost, engage, Favor, favour, figure out at, fish, gather, get hold of, grapple, grasp, grip, guard, hang onto, hire, hire on, hold, hold back, hold in, hold on, hold on to, hold up, inhibit, intercept, keep, keep back, keep down, keep in, keep to, occupy, play, play on, play upon, possess, redeem, remand, reserve, restrain, retain, save, seize, seize on, stanchion, stick, stick to, stifle, strangle, support, take, take up, tot up, total, uphold, withhold, work out at), mengene ile sıkıştırmak, mengene (clamp, crampiron, crampon, crampoon, mill, press, vice, vise), krampon (climbing irons, crampiron, crampon, crampoon, creeper, spikes, stud), krampa neden olmak, kramp (charley horse, kink), kenetlemek (clamp, clamp together, clench, interlock), kısıtlamak (bound, circumscribe, clip one's wings, constrict, hedge, hedge about, hedge around, hem in, inhibit, limit, qualify, restrain, restrict, stint, tie down), engellemek (balk, bar, baulk, block, circumvent, clamp the lid on smth., clog, counterwork, Crimp, cross, cumber, dam, dam up, defeat, embarrass, encumber, fetter, foil, gum up, hamper, hedge, hedge about, hedge around, hinder, hobble, impede, inhibit, keep down, keep from, obstruct, preclude, prevent from, put the lid on smth., resist, restrain, save, shut out, snag, stem, stymie, surety, trammel), engel (balk, bar, barrage, barricade, barrier, baulk, block, check, clog, countercheck, counterwork, Crimp, dam, determent, difficulty, discouragement, disincentive, drag, drawback, encumbrance, entanglement, fence, handicap, hedge, hindrance, hobble, hold up, holdback, hurdle, impediment, interference, let, obstacle, obstruction, restraint, retardation, rub, shackles, slashing, snag, stay, stick, stop, stumbling block, supersedeas, tie, trammel). (various references)

Ukrainian

вузький (confined, limited, narrow, one track, one-ideaed, petty, small minded, stuffy, suburban), перешкода (back-set, baffle, balk, bar, barricade, barrier, block, bridle, check, clog, contrariety, countercheck, cumber, dike, disability, discouragement, drawback, dyke, encumbrance, handicap, hindrance, hitch, hold back, interference, leap, marplot, nuisance, obex, objection, obstacle, obstruction, obstructive, occlusor, preclusion, pullback, stop, trammels, traverse, wall), затискач (barnacle, clamp, clasp, cleat, clench, clinch, clip), незрозумілий (cabbalistic, impenetrable, obscure, opaque, weird), обмежений (bat-minded, borne, confined, contracted, cramped, finite, illiberal, insular, limited, local, meager, meagre, narrow, narrow minded, one sided, one track, one-ideaed, one-liner, parochial, pinched, provincial, pure, qualified, restrained, restricted, restrictive, scant, shallow-brained, simple minded, small, small-scale, straitened, terminate), обмеження (abridgement, abridgment, circumscription, confinement, corslet, derogation, limitation, qualification, restraint, restriction, stint, swaddling clothes), перекіс (skewness, slant), викликати судорогу, судорога (twitch), тісний (narrow, pinched, pokey, poky, tight), спазм, скоба (bail, brace, bracket, buckle, clamp, clench, clinch, clincher, clip, holdfast, staple, stirrup), скріпляти скобою (strap), стискати (astringe, clasp, constrict, contract, jam, nip, pinch, straiten, strangulate, throttle, tighten), судома (convulsion, squirm, tetanus, writhe), обмежувати (abridge, astrict, bail, bound, circumscribe, confine, enclose, limit, narrow, pinch on, restrain, restrict, stint, straiten, terminate). (various references)

Vietnamese 

chật hẹp (incapacious, narrow, narrowly, scanty), tù túng (cramped), sự tù túng, sự câu thúc (duress, duresse, fetter), không tự do, không được thoải mái, bị bó chặt. (various references)

Welsh

cwlwm gwythi. (various references)

arta, artabitur, artabuntur, artavitque, arto, artor, coangustabunt, coangustatum, coangustatus. (various references)

Derivations

Words beginning with "cramp": cramped, cramping, crampit, crampits, crampon, crampons, crampoon, crampoons, cramps. (additional references)

Misspellings

"Cramp" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: cdram, Ckamp, Clrtap, Cramm, Crampa, crampe, crampy, craop, craph, crawp, crem, curam, Framp, gramp, Kramm, kramp, Krampe, krimp, nramp, rcam, rcmp. (additional references)

Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits.

Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams

-1 letter: camp, carp, cram, crap, marc, pram, ramp.

-2 letters: amp, arc, arm, cam, cap, car, mac, map, mar, pac, pam, par, ram, rap.

-3 letters: am, ar, ma, pa.

+1 letter: camper, cramps.

+2 letters: campers, camphor, campier, champer, clamper, compare, compart, cramped, crampit, crampon, primacy, scamper.

+3 letters: campfire, camphire, camphors, camporee, capmaker, capsomer, champers, clampers, compadre, compared, comparer, compares, comparts, copremia, corpsman, cramping, crampits, crampons, crampoon, dumpcart, impacter, impactor, mercapto, mesocarp, monocarp, parecism, pharmacy, picloram, picogram, pockmark, proclaim, rampancy, sapremic, scampers, vampiric.

+4 letters: ametropic, campcraft, campfires, camphires, camporees, capmakers, capsomers, champerty, compacter, compactor, compadres, comparers, comparing, comparted, comprador, copremias, crampoons, creamcups, creampuff, cryptogam, dumpcarts, empirical, graphemic, impacters, impactors, imprecate, marchpane, mercaptan, mesocarps, metacarpi, monocarps, pacemaker, pachyderm, panoramic, paramecia, paramedic, parchment, parecisms, piclorams, picograms, pictogram, pockmarks, practicum, pragmatic, preatomic, primacies, prismatic, procambia, proclaims, pyromancy, scampered, spermatic, supremacy, sympatric.