clamp

[ klamp ]

/ klæmp /

noun

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

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

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.

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.

Nautical.

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

verb (used with object)

to fasten with or fix in a clamp.

Verb Phrases

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

clamp down on, to impose or increase controls on.

SYNONYMS FOR clamp

6 clinch, clench, secure.

See synonyms for clamp on Thesaurus.com

QUIZZES

THIS PSAT VOCABULARY QUIZ IS PERFECT PRACTICE FOR THE REAL TEST

In our third teacher-created PSAT practice test there are new and unique vocabulary terms you may have never heard of! Can you guess what they mean?

Question 1 of 10

seclusion

a false belief or opinion.

the matter that settles to the bottom of a liquid.

the state of being isolated, kept apart, or withdrawn into solitude.

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of clamp

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

OTHER WORDS FROM clamp

un·clamped, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for clamp

Elsewhere, investors are so far brushing off the latest lockdown news, which threatens to put the clamps on Christmas on both sides of the Atlantic.
Why Wall Street is ‘signaling caution’ for your stock portfolio in 2021|Bernhard Warner|December 15, 2020|Fortune
It’s helpful to use clamps at this stage even though it’s a test fit, just to ensure your clamps are long enough.
Build your own door and ascend to a higher level of DIY|Courtney Starr|November 20, 2020|Popular Science
Some people talk, for example, of clamping down on sales of types of ammo.
How We Can Regulate Guns Using the Second Amendment|Michael Tomasky|December 18, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Reform entitlements by clamping down on payments to suppliers and providers?
Fiscal Cliff Hostage Situation Day 22: What Business Community, President Obama?|Daniel Gross|November 28, 2012|DAILY BEAST

America has spent tens of billions of dollars in a basically futile effort to coax Islamabad into clamping down on the Taliban.
The U.S. and Pakistan: Can This Marriage Be Saved?|Ron Moreau|April 3, 2012|DAILY BEAST
For small shops it is made for clamping only, and the making of the groove is done with the ordinary hammer.
Practical Bookbinding|Paul Adam
Behind this ambush he placed his camera, clamping it to a heavy floating base, which was anchored.
Practical Cinematography and Its Applications|Frederick Arthur Ambrose Talbot
Judging from the clamping hoofs, such might have been the case.
In the Pecos Country|Edward Sylvester Ellis (AKA Lieutenant R.H. Jayne)
"It excited you so much you sliced my Adam's apple," grumbled Luke, clamping on his rubber collar.
The Sin of Monsieur Pettipon|Richard Connell
There was a mouse swelling above his eye, the lids were clamping.
Rimrock Trail|J. Allan Dunn

British Dictionary definitions for clamp (1 of 2)

clamp¹

/ (klæmp) /

noun

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

verb (tr)

to fix or fasten with or as if with a clamp

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

to inflict or impose forcefullythey clamped a curfew on the town

Word Origin for clamp

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

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

a pile of bricks ready for processing in a furnace

verb

(tr) to enclose (a harvested root crop) in a mound

Word Origin for clamp

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

Medical definitions for clamp

clamp

[ klămp ]

n.

An instrument for the compression or grasping of a structure.

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