Cramp (krămp), 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.