clamp

[ klamp ]
See synonyms for: clampclamps on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a device, usually of some rigid material, for strengthening or supporting objects or fastening them together.

  2. an appliance with opposite sides or parts that may be adjusted or brought closer together to hold or compress something.

  1. one of a pair of movable pieces, made of lead or other soft material, for covering the jaws of a vise and enabling it to grasp without bruising.

  2. Also called clamp rail .Carpentry. a rail having a groove or a number of mortises for receiving the ends of a number of boards to bind them into a flat piece, as a drawing board or door.

  3. Nautical.

    • a horizontal timber in a wooden hull, secured to ribs to support deck beams and to provide longitudinal strength.

verb (used with object)
  1. to fasten with or fix in a clamp.

Verb Phrases
  1. clamp down, to become more strict: There were too many tax loopholes, so the government clamped down.

  2. clamp down on, to impose or increase controls on.

Origin of clamp

1
1350–1400; Middle English (noun) <Middle Dutch clampe clamp, cleat; cognate with Middle Low German klampe

Other words for clamp

Other words from clamp

  • un·clamped, adjective

Words Nearby clamp

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use clamp in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for clamp (1 of 2)

clamp1

/ (klæmp) /


noun
  1. a mechanical device with movable jaws with which an object can be secured to a bench or with which two objects may be secured together

  2. See also wheel clamp

  1. a means by which a fixed joint may be strengthened

  2. nautical a horizontal beam fastened to the ribs for supporting the deck beams in a wooden vessel

verb(tr)
  1. to fix or fasten with or as if with a clamp

  2. to immobilize (a car) by means of a wheel clamp

  1. to inflict or impose forcefully: they clamped a curfew on the town

Origin of clamp

1
C14: from Dutch or Low German klamp; related to Old English clamm bond, fetter, Old Norse kleppr lump

British Dictionary definitions for clamp (2 of 2)

clamp2

/ (klæmp) British agriculture /


noun
  1. a mound formed out of a harvested root crop, covered with straw and earth to protect it from winter weather

  2. a pile of bricks ready for processing in a furnace

verb
  1. (tr) to enclose (a harvested root crop) in a mound

Origin of clamp

2
C16: from Middle Dutch klamp heap; related to clump

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012