Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Cramp \Cramp\, n. (Med.)
   A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as,
   writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc.

Cramp \Cramp\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Cramped} (kr?mt; 215); p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Cramping}.]
   1. To compress; to restrain from free action; to confine and
      contract; to hinder.

            The mind my be as much cramped by too much knowledge
            as by ignorance.                      --Layard.

   2. To fasten or hold with, or as with, a cramp.

   3. Hence, to bind together; to unite.

            The . . . fabric of universal justic is well cramped
            and bolted together in all its parts. --Burke.

   4. To form on a cramp; as, to cramp boot legs.

   5. To afflict with cramp.

            When the gout cramps my joints.       --Ford.

   {To cramp the wheels of wagon}, to turn the front wheels out
      of line with the hind wheels, so that one of them shall be
      against the body of the wagon.

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.

Cramp \Cramp\, a. [See {Cramp}, n.]
   Knotty; difficult. [R.]

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

Source : WordNet®

cramp
     n 1: a painful and involuntary muscular contraction [syn: {spasm},
           {muscle spasm}]
     2: a clamp for holding pieces of wood together while they are
        glued
     3: a strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to
        hold masonry together [syn: {cramp iron}]

cramp
     v 1: secure with a cramp; "cramp the wood"
     2: prevent the progress or free movement of; "He was hampered
        in his efforts by the bad weather"; "the imperilist nation
        wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small
        countries" [syn: {hamper}, {halter}, {strangle}]