crampon
Americannoun
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a spiked iron plate worn on boots or shoes for aid in climbing or to prevent slipping on ice, snow, etc.
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a device for grasping and lifting heavy loads, usually consisting of a pair of hooks suspended from a chain or cable, the upward pull on which provides tension for the hooks to grip the load on opposite sides.
noun
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one of a pair of pivoted steel levers used to lift heavy objects; grappling iron
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(often plural) one of a pair of frames each with 10 or 12 metal spikes, strapped to boots for climbing or walking on ice or snow
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of crampon
1275–1325; Middle English cra ( u ) mpon < Old French crampon < Old Low Franconian *krampo, cognate with Old High German krampfo, Middle Dutch crampe; see cramp 2
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Chris Haugen realized he lost his crampon — a glacial traction device climbers attach to their shoes — and scrambled down to retrieve it after climbers below said they saw the missing footwear.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 29, 2023
Standing on its tip, my crampon points biting into a rim of blue ice, I feel as though I’ve been swallowed by the sky.
From National Geographic ● Jul. 14, 2015
Standing there, afraid to move any closer to the edge, I noticed a single set of faint crampon tracks leading past me toward the abyss.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Fifteen minutes of dicey, fatiguing crampon work brought me safely to the bottom of the incline, where I easily located my pack, and another ten minutes after that I was in camp myself.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
I’d gained nearly seven hundred feet of altitude since stepping off the hanging glacier, all of it on crampon front points and the picks of my axes.
From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer
"I've already fallen about 10 times for sure," said Italian student Francesca Veronese, who told AFP she was considering buying crampons because navigating Berlin footpaths had become "very, very dangerous".
From Barron's ● Feb. 5, 2026
Climbers venturing along the Devil's Backbone trail are advised to carry crampons and ice axes.
From BBC ● Dec. 31, 2025
Climbers have to walk across those ladders, wearing big boots and crampons, as they make multiple trips back and forth to advanced camps to acclimatize before finally heading for the summit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2024
Some hardy spectators watched all day, including one family that wore crampons for traction.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
I lunged into my tent with my crampons still on, zipped the door tight, and sprawled across the frost-covered floor too tired to even sit upright.
From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
