Cramp | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Crāmp, n.

noun

n. [D. & Sw. kramp, Dan. krampe, Ger. krampf, whence Fr. crampe.] 1. That which confines or contracts; a limit; a restriction. A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind. L'Estrange.

[Sw. krampa, Dan. krampe, D. kram, Ger. krampe, from O. H. Ger. chramp[h], crooked, from chrimphan, to crook, bend. Cf. CLAMP.] A piece of iron bent at the ends, serving to hold together pieces of timber, stones, &c.; a cramp-iron.
An iron instrument, having a screw at one end and a movable shoulder at the other, used for closely compressing the joints of framework. Gwilt.
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.
(Med.) A spasmodic and painful contraction of a muscle or muscles of the body.

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

Crāmp, v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [imp. & p. p. CRAMPED (krāmp); p. pr. & vb. n. CRAMPING.] 1. To hold tightly pressed together; to restrain from free action; to confine and contract; to impede; to check. The mind may be as much cramped by too much knowledge as by ignorance. Layard.

To fasten, confine, or hold with a cramp or cramp-iron.
To form on a cramp; as, to cramp boot-legs.
To afflict with cramp or spasmodic contraction of the muscles.

I can laugh, heartily laugh, When the gout cramps my joints. Ford.

Crāmp, a.

adjective

a. [See supra.] Characterized by difficulty or harshness; knotty; crooked. [Rare.]

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