Cramps

How to spell cramps

6 letters · 1 syllable

How to pronounce cramps

What does cramps mean?

1. nounSudden, painful, involuntary tightenings of one or more muscles, often in the legs, hands, or abdomen.
2. verbSeverely restricts or hampers the free movement or development of someone or something.

Cramps in a sentence

• noun

  Swimming straight after a heavy meal can bring on stomach cramps.

• verb

  A tight budget always cramps our holiday plans.

• noun

  She took painkillers to ease the monthly cramps that kept her from work.

• verb

  Working from a tiny desk cramps his ability to spread out the paperwork.

Where does cramps come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

The root word 'cramp' came into English in the late 1300s from a Germanic source, most likely Middle Dutch or Middle Low German 'crampe', which described a bent metal hook or clasp as well as a painful tightening of the muscles. The shared idea behind both senses is something that contracts, pinches, or pulls tight, which is why the same family of words gave us the metalworker's 'cramp' (a clamp) alongside the muscle 'cramp'. The Germanic root is connected to words meaning 'to bend' or 'to curl up', a vivid image for the way a muscle knots and the body folds in on itself. The figurative verb sense, as in something that 'cramps' your freedom, grew out of this physical meaning of being squeezed or restricted. The plural and verb form simply adds -s, and the spelling stays phonetic throughout, with the 'mp' cluster pronounced just as it looks.

How the word is built

• cramp (a sudden tightening)
• -s (plural noun / third-person verb ending)