1. A painful and involuntary muscular contraction
   "The runner suffered from muscle cramps in her calf after the marathon";
   - spasm, muscle spasm
    
2. A clamp for holding pieces of wood together while they are glued
   "He used a cramp to secure the joints while the glue dried"
    
3. A strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to hold masonry together
   "The stonemason used cramp irons to reinforce the wall";
   - cramp iron

1. Secure with a cramp
   "cramp the wood"
    
2. Restrict, constrain, or suppress the movement, growth, or activity of
   "Small offices cramped their expansion plans";
   - hamper, strangle, throttle
    
3. Affect with or as if with a cramp
   "The cold water cramped his muscles"
    
4. Suffer from sudden painful contraction of a muscle
   "His leg cramped during the swim"

Derived forms: cramps, cramping, cramped

Type of: affect, bound, clamp, clinch, confine, fasten, fix, get, have, limit, restrict, secure, slip, strip, suffer, sustain, symptom, throttle, trammel

Encyclopedia: Cramp, Stanley