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• cram
  cram

  verb (used with object)

  to fill (something) by force with more than it can easily hold.
• Cram
  Cram

  noun

  Ralph Adams, 1863–1942, U.S. architect and writer.

cram

¹ American  

[kram] / kræm /

verb (used with object)

• crams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crammed,
  past participle,  past
• cramming
  present participle

1. to fill (something) by force with more than it can easily hold.

   Synonyms:

   overcrowd, compress, squeeze, pack, crowd

2. to force or stuff (usually followed by into, down, etc.).

3. to fill with or as with an excessive amount of food; overfeed.

   Synonyms:

   glut

4. Informal.

   1. to prepare (a person), as for an exam, by having them memorize information within a short period of time.

   2. to acquire knowledge of (a subject) by so preparing oneself.

5. Archaic. to tell lies to.

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verb (used without object)

• crams,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crammed,
  past participle,  past
• cramming
  present participle

1. to eat greedily or to excess.

   Synonyms:

   gorge

2. to study for an examination by memorizing facts at the last minute.

3. to press or force accommodation in a room, vehicle, etc., beyond normal or comfortable capacity; crowd; jam.

   The whole team crammed into the bus.

noun

1. Informal. the act of preparing for an exam by memorizing information within a short time period.

2. an excessively full state.

3. a dense crowd; throng.

Cram ² American  

[kram] / kræm /

noun

1. Ralph Adams, 1863–1942, U.S. architect and writer.

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cram ¹ British  

/ kræm /

verb

1. (tr) to force (people, material, etc) into (a room, container, etc) with more than it can hold; stuff

2. to eat or cause to eat more than necessary

3. informal to study or cause to study (facts, etc), esp for an examination, by hastily memorizing

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noun

1. the act or condition of cramming

2. a crush

Cram ² British  

/ kræm /

noun

1. Steve. born 1960, English middle-distance runner: European 1500 m champion (1981, 1986); world 1500 m champion (1983)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• well-crammed
  adjective
• crammingly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• cramming
  present
• crammed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• cram
  simple
• crams
  simple
• have crammed
  perfect
• has crammed
  perfect
• am cramming
  progressive
• are cramming
  progressive
• is cramming
  progressive
• have been cramming
  perfect progressive
• has been cramming
  perfect progressive

Past

• crammed
  simple
• had crammed
  perfect
• was cramming
  progressive
• were cramming
  progressive
• had been cramming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will cram
  simple
• will have crammed
  perfect
• will be cramming
  progressive
• will have been cramming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of cram

First recorded before 1000; Middle English crammen, Old English crammian “to stuff,” akin to crimman “to put in”

Explanation

To cram is to crowd or stuff people or things into a limited amount of space. You might be tempted to cram your mouth full of your mom's chocolate chip cookies, especially if they just came out of the oven and are still warm and gooey. You can cram yourself with food, or cram your books onto a shelf that's not quite big enough to hold them. A writer might cram one book with dozens of characters, or you could cram homemade pancakes with blueberries. Another way to cram is to study for a test all in one session: "I haven't studied at all yet — I'll have to stay up tonight and cram." The Old English root, crammian, means "stuff something into something else."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cram Cram crams crammed cramming

Parking doesn’t exist, so cars cram onto the sidewalk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

You don’t need to cram every beautiful thing into the same dinner merely because it came home in the same tote.

From Salon ● Aug. 4, 2026

IBM has unveiled a new chip design which it says could enable manufacturers to cram 100 billion transistors on a silicon chip the size of a fingernail.

From BBC ● Jun. 25, 2026

It also inspired a Peacock streaming show in which Swedes visit America to counsel people who can’t cram anything more into their closets and cupboards.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026

Eight people cram into a small two-bedroom apartment.

From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario

Clammy palms, spiked heart-rates, agonising groans and joyful roars - and that's just Steve Cram in the commentary box.

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2026

Communications director Christopher Cram has previously told The Washington Times the district cannot comment about pending litigation.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 23, 2023

Cram heads the department’s new Behavioral Health Unit, which was started late last year.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 7, 2023

Mo Farah pays tribute to the "special" London Marathon before his final race and reminisces about the first time he met BBC commentator Steve Cram.

From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2023

Here, you step in here," said Mr. Cram to the attorney and his companion, "and I'll bring Tom to you in a minute.

From The International Monthly, Volume 3, No. 2, May, 1851 by Various

Grubin, chief executive of product-sampling firm SoPost, said he’d rather have a functional room than one that crams all the bathroom stuff in a separate space.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026

We don't necessarily need to come up with a wildcard formation that crams all the new signings into the same team.

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2025

The influx crams even more people into one of Gaza’s most densely populated areas.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 29, 2023

Instead, it’s cultural window dressing while Vardalos crams in one more dull joke about Nick’s manscaping, Greek voodoo or Voula’s sauciness.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2023

She pries open my head and my fists and crams into them responsibility for time, responsibility for intervening oceans.

From "The Woman Warrior" by Maxine Hong Kingston

Hundreds of people crammed into the school gym that April evening, and the debate over Point Reyes agitated into a low boil.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

The applause duly began before the famous door opened, so the first sight and sound to greet Andy Burnham and his wife were crowds of clapping staff, crammed into the Downing Street hall.

From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026

Damon, Bernthal and up to 25 others crammed into the dank vessel and clung to its cross beams as cold water pumped in and the silo rocked.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

I joined them and hundreds of others crammed into Chapter One to try and collectively will El Tri to victory.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

Too many children crammed into rooms, never enough food to go around.

From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan

He says he does not want to share his name as he stands among the crowds cramming into vantage points for a view of Chongqing's neon-lit, stacked skyline.

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

“Meghan’s serving your insatiable thirst for dance-ready bops with the upbeat banger that is ‘Foolish,’” the release stated, cramming two bits of gay slang into one sentence.

From Salon ● May 10, 2026

KHARTOUM, Sudan — The diggers were efficient, cramming in so many graves that, from above, the field near the University of Sudan’s medical campus looked like a frieze of an undulating, gravel-brown sea.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026

If a public campaign were to be launched – it would have to be done carefully and strategically to avoid cramming too much information into the message while still informing the public.

From MarketWatch ● Mar. 2, 2026

All those stupid tears I'd been cramming back finally broke loose.

From "Patina" by Jason Reynolds

Related Words

• crowd
• load
• overcrowd
• pack
• ram
• shove
• squeeze
• stuff
• wedge