Cramp bone

Cramp bone
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. [1913 Webster]

A narrow fortune is a cramp to a great mind. --L'Estrange. [1913 Webster]

Crippling his pleasures with the cramp of fear. --Cowper. [1913 Webster]

2. (Masonry) A device, usually of iron bent at the ends, used to hold together blocks of stone, timbers, etc.; a cramp iron. [1913 Webster]

3. (Carp.) A rectangular frame, with a tightening screw, used for compressing the joints of framework, etc. [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]

5. (Med.) A spasmodic and painful involuntary contraction of a muscle or muscles, as of the leg. [1913 Webster]

The cramp, divers nights, gripeth him in his legs. --Sir T. More. [1913 Webster]

6. (Med.) A paralysis of certain muscles due to excessive use; as, writer's cramp; milker's cramp, etc. [Webster 1913 Suppl.]

{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. [1913 Webster]


The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.

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