clamp Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a device (generally used by carpenters) that holds things firmly together
    clinch.
  2. verb fasten or fix with a clamp
    • clamp the chair together until the glue has hardened
  3. verb impose or inflict forcefully
    • The military government clamped a curfew onto the capital

WordNet

Clamp noun
Etymology
Cf. LG. & D. klamp, Dan. klampe, also D. klampen to fasten, clasp. Cf. Clamer, Cramp.
Definitions
  1. Something rigid that holds fast or binds things together; a piece of wood or metal, used to hold two or more pieces together.
  2. (a) An instrument with a screw or screws by which work is held in its place or two parts are temporarily held together. (b) (Joinery) A piece of wood placed across another, or inserted into another, to bind or strengthen.
  3. One of a pair of movable pieces of lead, or other soft material, to cover the jaws of a vise and enable it to grasp without bruising.
  4. (Shipbuilding) A thick plank on the inner part of a ship's side, used to sustuan the ends of beams.
  5. A mass of bricks heaped up to be burned; or of ore for roasting, or of coal coking.
  6. A mollusk. See Clam. Obs.
    Clamp nails, nails used to fasten on clamps in ships.
Clamp transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Clamped present participle & verbal noun Clamping
Definitions
  1. To fasten with a clamp or clamps; to apply a clamp to; to place in a clamp.
  2. To cover, as vegetables, with earth. Eng.
Clamp noun
Etymology
Prob. an imitative word. Cf.Clank.
Definitions
  1. A heavy footstep; a tramp.
Clamp intransitive verb
Definitions
  1. To tread heavily or clumsily; to clump.
    The policeman with clamping feet. Thackeray.

Webster 1913