| 释义 |
cramp
I. \ˈkramp, -raa(ə)mp, -raimp\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle English crampe, from Middle French, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch crampe cramp, hook
1.
a.
(1) : a spasmodic painful involuntary contraction of a muscle
< a cramp in the leg >
(2) : a case or instance of such a contraction
< suffering from the cramp >
b. : a temporary paralysis of certain muscles from overuse — see writer's cramp
c.
(1) : a sharp abdominal pain — used usually in plural
(2) cramps plural : painful menstruation
2. cramps plural
a. : a partial paralysis of the hindquarters occasionally seen in pregnant animals
b. : the condition of birds unable to fly as a result of narrow confinement
II. noun
(-s)
Etymology: obsolete Dutch krampe hook (from Middle Dutch crampe) or Low German, from Middle Low German; akin to Old High German kramph bent, Old Norse kreppa to clench, Latvian grumbt to become wrinkled, Old English cradol cradle — more at cradle
1.
a. : a device usually of iron bent at the ends or of dovetail form used to hold together blocks (as of stone or timbers)
b. : clamp I 1
c. : a piece of wood used in the manufacture of shoes and having a curve corresponding to that of the upper part of the instep on which the upper leather of a boot is stretched — called also crimp
2.
a. : something that confines or contracts : restraint, shackle
< authoritarian cramps on free thinking >
b. : the quality or state of being confined or compressed : constraint
< the cramp and pettiness of bourgeois life >
III. verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: partly from cramp (I), partly from cramp (II)
transitive verb
1. : to cause to have a cramp : affect with or as if with cramp
< gout cramping his limbs >
< his hands were cramped for lack of movement >
2. : compress, restrain, confine
< prisoners cramped in fetters >
< a spirit cramped with dogma >
< they cramped the livestock in ancient barns >
also : to restrain from free expression of one's tastes or skill : dampen the spirits of — used especially in the phrase cramp one's style
3. : to turn (the front wheels of a vehicle) to right or left
< cramp the wheels into the curb … when parked — C.P.Taylor >
4.
a. : to fasten or hold with a cramp
b. : to form on a cramp
< cramp bootlegs >
intransitive verb
: to suffer from or as if from cramps
IV. adjective
Etymology: probably from cramp (III)
1. : knotty, difficult
< not to add any of the cramp reasons for this opinion — S.T.Coleridge >
2. : contracted, narrow, confined
< a cramp corner > |