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Added 9 October 2026

cramp

/kɹæmp/ noun

In Latin: pnix Wiktionary

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about cramp at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.

verb

Secure with a cramp.
cramp the wood
Prevent the progress or free movement of.
He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather
Affect with or as if with a cramp.

Origin

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.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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