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Cramp vs Tighten - What's the difference?

cramp | tighten | Related terms |

Cramp is a related term of tighten.


In lang=en terms the difference between cramp and tighten

is that cramp is to restrain to a specific physical position, as if with a cramp while tighten is to become tighter.

As verbs the difference between cramp and tighten

is that cramp is (of a muscle) to contract painfully and uncontrollably while tighten is to make tighter.

As a noun cramp

is a painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled.

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

    * ----

    tighten

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To make tighter.
    • Please tighten that screw a quarter-turn.
  • * Fawkes
    • Just where I please, with tightened rein / I'll urge thee round the dusty plain.
  • To become tighter.
    • That joint is tightening as the wood dries.
  • (economics) To make money harder to borrow or obtain.
    • If the government doesn't tighten the money supply, inflation is certain to be harsh.
  • (economics) To raise short-term interest rates.
    • The Fed is expected to tighten by a quarter-point.

    Antonyms

    * (make tighter) loosen

    Derived terms

    * retighten * tighten one's belt * tighten the purse strings * tightener

    Related terms

    * tight

    Distinguish from

    * titan, Titan