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Clamp vs Cramp - What's the difference?

clamp | cramp |

In intransitive terms the difference between clamp and cramp

is that clamp is to tread heavily or clumsily; to clump or clomp while cramp is (of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.

In transitive terms the difference between clamp and cramp

is that clamp is to modify a numeric value so it lies within a specific range while cramp is to restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp.

As nouns the difference between clamp and cramp

is that clamp is a brace, band, or clasp for strengthening or holding things together while cramp is a painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled.

As verbs the difference between clamp and cramp

is that clamp is to fasten in place or together with (or as if with) a clamp while cramp is (of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.

clamp

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A brace, band, or clasp for strengthening or holding things together.
  • A mass of bricks heaped up to be burned; or of ore for roasting, or of coal coking.
  • A piece of wood (batten) across the grain of a board end to keep it flat, as in a breadboard.
  • A heavy footstep; a tramp.
  • Derived terms

    * clover clamp * nipple clamp

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (intransitive) To fasten in place or together with (or as if with) a clamp .
  • * 1897 , (Bram Stoker), (Dracula) Chapter 21
  • As we burst into the room, the Count turned his face, and the hellish look that I had heard described seemed to leap into it. His eyes flamed red with devilish passion. The great nostrils of the white aquiline nose opened wide and quivered at the edge, and the white sharp teeth, behind the full lips of the blood dripping mouth, clamped together like those of a wild beast.
  • To tread heavily or clumsily; to clump or clomp.
  • * Thackeray
  • The policeman with clamping feet.
  • To hold or grip tightly.
  • To modify a numeric value so it lies within a specific range.
  • (UK, obsolete, transitive) To cover (vegetables, etc.) with earth.
  • Derived terms

    * clamp down

    See also

    * clasp * vise, vice

    cramp

    English

    (wikipedia cramp)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled.
  • * Sir T. More
  • The cramp , divers nights, gripeth him in his legs.
  • That which confines or contracts; a restraint; a shackle; a hindrance.
  • * L'Estrange
  • A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind.
  • * Cowper
  • crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear
  • A clamp for carpentry or masonry.
  • 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.
  • Derived terms

    * brain cramp * cramp ring * writer's cramp

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (of a muscle) To contract painfully and uncontrollably.
  • To prohibit movement or expression.
  • You're cramping my style.
  • * Layard
  • The mind may be as much cramped by too much knowledge as by ignorance.
  • To restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp.
  • You're going to need to cramp the wheels on this hill.
  • * Ford
  • when the gout cramps my joints
  • To fasten or hold with, or as if with, a cramp.
  • (by extension) To bind together; to unite.
  • * Burke
  • The fabric of universal justice is well cramped and bolted together in all its parts.
  • To form on a cramp.
  • to cramp boot legs

    References

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