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. [ 1913 Webster ]

A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind. L'Estrange. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Masonry) A device, usually of iron bent at the ends, used to hold together blocks of stone, timbers, etc.; a cramp iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Carp.) A rectangular frame, with a tightening screw, used for compressing the joints of framework, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Med.) A spasmodic and painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, as of the leg. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs. Sir T. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Med.) A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as, writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Cramped (krămt; 215); p. pr. & vb. n. Cramping. ] 1. To compress; to restrain from free action; to confine and contract; to hinder. [ 1913 Webster ]

The mind my be as much cramped by too much knowledge as by ignorance. Layard. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To fasten or hold with, or as with, a cramp. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence, to bind together; to unite. [ 1913 Webster ]

The . . . fabric of universal justic is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To form on a cramp; as, to cramp boot legs. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To afflict with cramp. [ 1913 Webster ]

When the gout cramps my joints. Ford. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ See Cramp, n. ] Knotty; difficult. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Care being taken not to add any of the cramp reasons for this opinion. Coleridge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. a deciduous thicket-forming Old World shrub (Viburnum opulus) with clusters of white flowers and small bright red berries.
Syn. -- guelder rose, European cranberrybush, European cranberry bush, cranberry-tree, Viburnum opulus. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

adj. inconveniently small; restricting movement; -- of living quarters or workspace; as, cramped quarters; a cramped office.
Syn. -- constricted, inconvenient, uncomfortably small. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. [ See Cramp, n. ] 1. (Mil.) A cramp iron or cramp ring; a chape, as of a scabbard. [ Written also crampit and crampette. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One of the plates of iron, with attached spikes, forming a pair of crampoons; hence (Curling), an iron plate for a player to stand on when delivering the stones. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

n. (Zool.) The torpedo, or electric ray, the touch of which gives an electric shock. See Electric fish, and Torpedo. [ 1913 Webster ]

See Cramp, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Mil.) See Crampet. [ 1913 Webster ]

‖n. [ F. See Crampoons. ] 1. (Bot.) An aërial rootlet for support in climbing, as of ivy. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. a device with pointed metal projections worn over the shoes to provide traction when walking over ice, or in mountaineering; -- usually used in the plural. [ PJC ]

3. same as crampoon. [ PJC ]