资料来源 : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

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.