cram

¹ American  

[kram] / kræm /

verb (used with object)

crammed, cramming

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)

crammed, cramming

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

• crammingly adverb
• well-crammed adjective

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

Retailers are joining the race to cram artificial intelligence absolutely anywhere.

From Slate • Feb. 22, 2026

On top of that, there has been a less sharp—but steady—increase in demand for all other applications, as device makers cram in ever more memory.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 17, 2026

The computing power of chips has increased dramatically as makers cram them with more microscopic electronic components.

From Barron's • Nov. 26, 2025

Queues snaked around street corners and card payments failed, forcing people to queue for cash and cram on to buses as other transport systems were not running.

From BBC • Oct. 3, 2025

Soon, as before, his stomach was full, but now he had some sense and he did not gorge or cram more down.

From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen

Related Words

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