cramp

Noun

• a strip of metal with ends bent at right angles; used to hold masonry together

• a clamp for holding pieces of wood together while they are glued

• a painful and involuntary muscular contraction

Verb

• suffer from sudden painful contraction of a muscle

• affect with or as if with a cramp

• prevent the progress or free movement of
  • He was hampered in his efforts by the bad weather
    
  • the imperialist nation wanted to strangle the free trade between the two small countries
    

• secure with a cramp
  • cramp the wood
    

Related words

• Synonyms: 
  cramp iron , spasm , muscle spasm , hamper , halter , strangle