Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Cramp"

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cramp \Cramp\, n. (Med.)
A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as,
writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cramp \Cramp\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cramped} (kr?mt; 215); p.
pr. & vb. n. {Cramping}.]
1. To compress; to restrain from free action; to confine and
contract; to hinder.

The mind my be as much cramped by too much knowledge
as by ignorance. --Layard.

2. To fasten or hold with, or as with, a cramp.

3. Hence, to bind together; to unite.

The . . . fabric of universal justic is well cramped
and bolted together in all its parts. --Burke.

4. To form on a cramp; as, to cramp boot legs.

5. To afflict with cramp.

When the gout cramps my joints. --Ford.

{To cramp the wheels of wagon}, to turn the front wheels out
of line with the hind wheels, so that one of them shall be
against the body of the wagon.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cramp \Cramp\ (kr[a^]mp), n. [OE. crampe, craumpe; akin to D. &
Sw. kramp, Dan. krampe, G. krampf (whence F. crampe), Icel.
krappr strait, narrow, and to E. crimp, crumple; cf. cram.
See {Grape}.]
1. That which confines or contracts; a restraint; a shackle;
a hindrance.

A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind.
--L'Estrange.

Crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear.
--Cowper.

2. (Masonry) A device, usually of iron bent at the ends, used
to hold together blocks of stone, timbers, etc.; a cramp
iron.

3. (Carp.) A rectangular frame, with a tightening screw, used
for compressing the joints of framework, etc.

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.

5. (Med.) A spasmodic and painful involuntary contraction of
a muscle or muscles, as of the leg.

The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs.
--Sir T. More.

{Cramp bone}, the patella of a sheep; -- formerly used as a
charm for the cramp. --Halliwell. ``He could turn cramp
bones into chess men.'' --Dickens.

{Cramp ring}, a ring formerly supposed to have virtue in
averting or curing cramp, as having been consecrated by
one of the kings of England on Good Friday.

From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)

Cramp \Cramp\, a. [See {Cramp}, n.]
Knotty; difficult. [R.]

Care being taken not to add any of the cramp reasons
for this opinion. --Coleridge.

From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)

cramp
n 1: a painful and involuntary muscular contraction [syn: {spasm},
{muscle spasm}]
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 [syn: {cramp iron}]
v 1: secure with a cramp
2: prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered
in his efforts by the bad weather" [syn: {hamper}, {halter}]


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