Cram

//kɹæm// name, noun, verb, slang

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname.
Noun
  1. 1
    The act of cramming (forcing or stuffing something). countable, uncountable

    "But Billy Bunter was only the first in the field. As the news spread, there was a crowd, not to call it a cram, in No. 7 Study: […]"

  2. 2
    Information hastily memorized. countable, dated, slang, uncountable

    "a cram from an examination"

  3. 3
    A warp having more than two threads passing through each dent or split of the reed. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A lie; a falsehood. British, countable, dated, slang, uncountable

    "It is awful, an old un like that telling such crams as she do."

  5. 5
    A mathematical board game in which players take turns placing dominoes horizontally or vertically until no more can be placed, the loser being the player who cannot continue. uncountable
Show 1 more definition
  1. 6
    A small friendship book with limited space for people to enter their information. countable, uncountable

    "Regular friendship books had a variety of variations, such as slams, crams, and decos."

Verb
  1. 1
    To press, force, or drive, particularly in filling, or in thrusting one thing into another; to stuff; to fill to superfluity. transitive

    "to cram fruit into a basket; to cram a room with people"

  2. 2
    prepare (students) hastily for an impending exam wordnet
  3. 3
    To fill with food to satiety; to stuff. transitive

    "The boy crammed himself with cake"

  4. 4
    study intensively, as before an exam wordnet
  5. 5
    To put hastily through an extensive course of memorizing or study, as in preparation for an examination. transitive

    "A pupil is crammed by his tutor."

Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    crowd or pack to capacity wordnet
  2. 7
    To study hard; to swot. intransitive
  3. 8
    put something somewhere so that the space is completely filled wordnet
  4. 9
    To eat greedily, and to satiety; to stuff oneself. intransitive
  5. 10
    To lie; to intentionally not tell the truth. British, dated, intransitive, slang
  6. 11
    To make (a person) believe false or exaggerated tales. British, dated, slang, transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English crammen, from Old English crammian (“to cram; stuff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krammōn, from Proto-Germanic *krammōną, a secondary verb derived from *krimmaną (“to stuff”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to assemble; collect; gather”). Compare Old English crimman (“to cram; stuff; insert; press; bruise”), Icelandic kremja (“to squeeze; crush; bruise”).

Etymology 2

From Middle English crammen, from Old English crammian (“to cram; stuff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krammōn, from Proto-Germanic *krammōną, a secondary verb derived from *krimmaną (“to stuff”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to assemble; collect; gather”). Compare Old English crimman (“to cram; stuff; insert; press; bruise”), Icelandic kremja (“to squeeze; crush; bruise”).

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