cramn.
/kram/, U.S. /kræm/ 1. A mass of dough or paste used for cramming fowls, etc.; any food used to fatten. dialect.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > animal food > [noun] > food eaten by birds > poultry food
gobbetc1384
shack1536
patoun1600
cram1614
chicken meat1684
soilinga1825
chicken feed1843
cram-cake1888
laying meal1908
laying mash1926
Tottenham Pudding1944
balancer meal1950
balancer mash1955
1614 G. Markham Cheape & Good Husb. (1623) 141 To cram a Capon..take Barley-meale..and..make it into a good stiffe dough; then make it into long crams, biggest in the midst, and small at both endes, and..give the Capon a full gorgefull.
1741 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman May vi. 99 Receipt for making Crams [for calves].
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Jan. 18 Mix up two quarts of flour, four ounces of Jamaica Pepper, [etc.]..to the consistence of Crams.
2. A crammed or densely crowded condition or party; a dense crowd, crush, ‘squeeze’. colloquial.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > social event > social gathering > [noun] > crowded or fashionable
drumc1743
rout1745
hurricane1746
squeeze1779
routationa1800
cram1810
crush1832
the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > an assemblage or collection > [noun] > of people or animals > regarded as a whole or a body of people gathered > large or numerous > densely packed together
threatc950
press?c1225
thring?c1225
threngc1275
throngc1330
shockc1430
crowd1567
frequency1570
gregation1621
frequence1671
push1718
munga1728
mampus?c1730
squeezer1756
squeeze1779
crush1806
cram1810
parrock1811
mass1814
scrouge1839
squash1884
1810 M. Wilmot Jrnl. 25 Jan. in More Lett. (1935) p. xxii We all made the best of our way to the adjoining room, but a cram, with hoops, is the most ridiculous thing imaginable.
a1855 C. Brontë Professor (1857) II. xxi. 109 A garden made and provided for such crams.
1858 C. Dickens Let. 5 Aug. (1995) VIII. 617 It was a prodigious cram, and we turned away no end of people.
1881 E. Coxon Basil Plant I. 77 A cram like the Fields' can't be pleasant.
3. slang. A lie. (Cf. cram v. 5.)
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > disregard for truth, falsehood > [noun] > a falsehood, lie
liec900
leasingc1000
falsehoodc1290
falsedom1297
gabbinga1300
fablec1300
follyc1300
fittenc1440
untruthc1449
crackc1450
fallacy1481
falsity1557
falsedict1579
untroth1581
crackera1625
flam1632
mendacity1646
fairy story1692
false1786
whid1794
gag1805
wrinkle1819
reacher1828
cram1842
untruism1845
crammer1861
inveracity1864
bung1882
fairy tale1896
mistruth1897
post-and-rails1945
pork pie1973
porky1985
1842 Punch 2 21/2 (Farmer) It soundeth somewhat like a cram.
1886 S. Baring-Gould Court Royal I. xvi. 244 Master..believes all the crams we tell.
4.
a. The action of cramming information for a temporary occasion (see cram v. 6); the information thus hastily and temporarily acquired.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > [noun] > hastily and temporarily acquired
cram1828
society > education > teaching > systematic or formal teaching > [noun] > cramming
cramming1819
cram1828
priming1832
society > education > learning > study > [noun] > cramming
cramming1819
cram1828
society > education > learning > study > [noun] > cramming > information gained by
cram1828
1828 H. Alford Jrnl. 2 Dec. in Life, Jrnls. & Lett. (1873) ii. 36 At the lecture Evans gave a quantity of cram about the choruses in the Eumenides.
1832 J. S. Mill in Monthly Repos. 6 658 Modern education is all cram—Latin cram, mathematical cram, literary cram, [etc.].
1853 ‘C. Bede’ Adventures Mr. Verdant Green ii. 98 Going into the school clad in his examination coat, and padded over with a host of crams [cf. Cram-paper in next].
1859 J. S. Mill On Liberty ii. 81 The..temptation of contenting himself with cram.
1860 Sat. Rev. 9 308/1 He has not only crammed, but he has thoroughly digested and assimilated the cram.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xi. 189 If capacity for taking in cram would do it, he would be all right.
1874 J. S. Blackie On Self-culture 27 Cram is a mere mechanical operation, of which a reasoning animal should be ashamed.
b. = crammer n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > teacher > [noun] > professional teacher > crammer
feeder1766
puffer1786
crammer1814
grinder1814
cram1861
cram-coach1885
1861 E. D. Cook Paul Foster's Daughter ix. (Farmer) I shall go to a coach, a cram, a grindstone.
5. Weaving. ‘A warp having more than two threads passing through each dent or split of the reed’ (Webster 1864).
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > threads in process of weaving > [noun] > warp > type of
cram1912
1912 T. Okey Introd. Art of Basket-making vi. 38 The crams should be turned down just a little short of the stake alongside which they are to be inserted.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
cramv.
/kram/, U.S. /kræm/ 1.
a. transitive. To fill (a receptacle) with more than it properly or conveniently holds, by force or compression; less strictly, to fill to repletion, fill quite full or overfull, ‘pack’. Const. with.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > presence > fact of taking up space > take up (space or a place) [verb (transitive)] > fill > stuff or cram
cramc1000
pitchc1300
thrustc1380
purra1398
stopc1400
farcec1405
stuffc1440
line?1521
enfarce1531
threstc1540
pack1567
prag1567
prop1568
referse1580
thwack1582
ram1590
pang1637
farcinate1638
stivea1639
thrack1655
to craw outa1658
trig1660
steeve1669
stow1710
jam1719
squab1819
farcy1830
cram-jam1880
jam-pack1936
c1000 Ælfric Gram. (Z.) 190 Farcio, ic crammige oððe fylle.
c1386 G. Chaucer Pardoner's Prol. 20 My longe cristal stoones I-crammed ful of cloutes and of boones.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 101 Cremmyn, or stuffyn, farcino, repleo.
1582 R. Stanyhurst tr. Virgil First Foure Bookes Æneis ii. 31 Thee gats ar cramd with an armye.
1635 E. Pagitt Christianographie 231 Till hee had drained them dry to crambe his own Coffers.
1662 S. Pepys Diary 31 Dec. (1970) III. 300 The room where the Ball was to be, crammed with fine ladies.
1812 Examiner 14 Sept. 592/1 Every avenue leading to the fair was crammed.
1889 Boy's Own Paper 17 Aug. 730/2 The boisterous party of us that crammed a double compartment.
b. intransitive with passive sense. rare.
ΚΠ
1728 J. Byrom Full Acct. Robbery Epping-Forest 2 The Coach was full as it could cram.
c. To plaster the interstices between the logs of a house. U.S.
ΚΠ
1781 Cal. Virginia St. Papers I. 561 [He has received no assistance from the latter except in] cramming between the loggs.
1837 Southern Lit. Messenger 3 217 A plain building of sawed logs, crammed, as we say in Virginia, with mud.
2.
a. esp. To feed with excess of food (spec. poultry, etc., to fatten them for the table); to overfeed, stuff, fill to satiety.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feed or nourish [verb (transitive)] > feed up or overfeed
cramc1325
pamperc1390
pampa1400
papa1400
engorge1497
pompa1529
feed1552
frank?1567
grudge1642
to feed into1843
the world > food and drink > food > providing or receiving food > feeding animals > [verb (transitive)] > fatten
masteOE
fatc1386
frankc1440
to set up1540
fatten1552
feed1552
cram1577
engrease1583
to raise in flesh1608
adipate1623
saginate1623
batten1638
to stall to1764
tallow1765
to fat off1789
to make up1794
higglea1825
finish1841
force1847
to feed off1852
steam1947
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > animal keeping practices general > [verb (transitive)] > fatten
masteOE
fatc1386
to set up1540
fatten1552
feed1552
forcea1571
cram1577
engrease1583
to raise in flesh1608
saginate1623
to stall to1764
tallow1765
stall-feed1766
graze1787
to fat off1789
to make up1794
higglea1825
finish1841
to feed off1852
steam1947
c1325 Pol. Songs (Camden) 238 The knave crommeth is crop.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. i. 42 Tyl hure bagge and hure bely were bretful ycrammyd.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry iv. f. 169 [Pigeons] must be crammed in such sort as you cram Capons.
1630 R. Brathwait Eng. Gentleman 154 Wee were not created onely to cramme our selves.
1661 R. Lovell Πανζωορυκτολογια, sive Panzoologicomineralogia Isagoge sig. D2 Those that feed themselves abroad..are of better nourishment, than such as are cram'd in a coop.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters iii. 144 The infant..stuffed and crammed with paps and puddings.
1830 W. Scott Jrnl. 27 June (1946) 111 The little garden where I was cramd with goose berries.
1830 M. Donovan Domest. Econ. II. iii. 75 In the Society Islands, dogs were crammed, as poultry with us, for the sake of improving their flesh.
b. intransitive (for reflexive). To eat greedily or to excess, to stuff oneself; to ‘stuff’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > consumption of food or drink > appetite > excessive consumption of food or drink > eat or drink to excess [verb (intransitive)] > be gluttonous
gourmanda1450
gormandize1548
belly-cheer1549
gurmander1570
overfeed1589
overeat1590
glutton1602
cram1609
gutc1616
pamper1620
guttle1654
gluttonize1656
engorge1667
stuff1728
guddle1825
to make a pig of oneself1873
guts1903
1609 S. Rowlands Knave of Clubbes 24 And so againe crammes in, As if a fortnight he had fasting bin.
1634 T. Heywood & R. Brome Late Lancashire Witches iiii. sig. Gv Such a bevy of beldames..cramming like so many Cormorants.
1637 J. Milton Comus 27 Swinish gluttony Ne'er looks to heav'n amidst his gorgeous feast, But..Cramms, and blasphemes his feeder.
1787 ‘P. Pindar’ Lousiad: Canto II 13 in Lousiad: Canto I (ed. 4) Madam Swellenberg, inclin'd to cram, Was wond'rous busy o'er a plate of ham.
3. figurative (transitive) To fill quite full, overfill (with facts, knowledge, etc.).
ΚΠ
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions iv. 22 Neither stuffe the bodye, nor choke the conceit, which it lightly doeth, when it is to much crammed.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) i. ii. 93 Cram's with prayse, and make's As fat as tame things. View more context for this quotation
a1777 S. Foote Cozeners (1778) i. 24 He never crams congregations, gives them more than they can carry away.
1828 W. Scott Tales of Grandfather 1st Ser. III. viii. 249 A boy of fourteen..with as much learning as two excellent schoolmasters could cram him with.
1871 G. H. Napheys Prevention & Cure Dis. 35 Books crammed with useless statements.
4.
a. To thrust, force, stuff, crowd (anything) into a receptacle or space, etc. which it overfills, down any one's throat, etc.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > insertion or putting in > insert or put in [verb (transitive)] > forcibly > cram or stuff in
crama1400
wedge1513
enfarce1564
pester1570
farce1579
stuff1579
ram1582
impact1601
thrum1603
to cramp in1605
crowd1609
impack1611
screw1635
infarciate1657
stodge1674
choke1747
bodkin1793
jam1793
bodkinize1833
pump1899
shoehorn1927
a1400–50 Alexander 4455 Þus make ȝe vessels..to ȝoure foule corses, To crom in ȝoure cariouns.
1625 F. Bacon Ess. (new ed.) 202 Cramme not in People, by sending too fast, Company after Company.
1692 J. Locke Toleration i, in Wks. (1727) II. 243 Cram a Medicine down a sick Man's Throat.
1709 J. Stevens tr. F. de Quevedo Comical Wks. (ed. 2) 348 Do not..cramb your Hands into your Pocket.
1842 S. Lover Handy Andy i Andy was obliged to cram his face into his hat to hide the laugh.
1866 A. Trollope Belton Estate II. iii. 81 He was..cramming his shirts into his portmanteau.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
1528 W. Tyndale Obed. Christen Man f. xcvijv Though he never cromme hys synne in to the prestes eare.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) ii. i. 112 You cram these words into mine eares, against the stomacke of my sense. View more context for this quotation
1668 Ld. Chaworth Let. 3 Aug. in Hist. MSS Comm.: 12th Rep. App. Pt. V: MSS Duke of Rutland (1889) II. 11 in Parl. Papers (C. 5889-II) XLIV. 393 I would advise you to eate your words..else..I'le crame them downe your throate with my sworde.
1711 T. Hearne Remarks & Coll. (1889) III. 200 To have an Oath of Abjuration cramm'd down their Throats.
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins I. i. 7 I had but little Heart to my Nouns and Pronouns, which now began to be crammed upon me.
1863 J. G. Holland Lett. to Joneses xix. 275 [To] cram a lie down the public throat.
1879 J. R. Green Readings Eng. Hist. Pref. To cram as many facts as possible into their pages.
c. intransitive (for reflexive). To press, crowd. rare.
ΚΠ
c1752 Scotland's Glory 69 A crowd then crams into the Kirk.
5. slang. To make (a person) ‘swallow’, i.e. believe, false or exaggerated statements. Cf. colloquial to stuff (a person) up; and see cram n. 3, crammer n. 3.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > conformity with what is known, truth > deceit, deception, trickery > cheating, fraud > trickery, playing jokes > trick, hoax [verb (transitive)]
jape1362
bejape1377
play1562
jugglea1592
dally1595
trick1595
bore1602
jadea1616
to fool off1631
top1663
whiska1669
hocus1675
to put a sham upon1677
sham1677
fun?1685
to put upon ——1687
rig1732
humbug1750
hum1751
to run a rig1764
hocus-pocus1774
cram1794
hoax1796
kid1811
string1819
to play off1821
skylark1823
frisk1825
stuff1844
lark1848
kiddy1851
soap1857
to play it (on)1864
spoof1889
to slip (something) over (on)1912
cod1941
to pull a person's chain1975
game1996
1794 Gentleman's Mag. 64 1085 (Farmer) I lately came over him for a good round sum..Luckily, I crammed him so well that, etc.
1822 W. Scott Fortunes of Nigel II. vii. 163 Ridiculous tales..with..which..Richie Moniplies had been crammed.
1825 W. Scott Jrnl. 23 Nov. (1939) 11 He cramd people as it is termd about duels, and what [not], which never existed.
1844 W. M. Thackeray Wanderings Fat Contributor ii Poor Caledonian youth! I have been cramming him with the most dreadful lies.
6.
a. colloquial. To prepare (a person) for an examination or special purpose, in a comparatively short time, by storing his memory with information, not so much with a view to real learning as to the temporary object aimed at.Originally University slang; always depreciative or hostile.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > study > [verb (transitive)] > cram
prepare1586
cram1825
to get up1828
to study up1846
1741 I. Watts Improvem. Mind i. iv. 68 As a Man may be eating all Day, and for want of Digestion is never nourish'd; so these endless Readers may cram themselves in vain with intellectual Food, and without real Improvement of their Minds, for want of digesting it by proper Reflections.]
1825 A. W. Fonblanque in Westm. Rev. 4 394 An uninstructed man, when crammed for an occasion.
1831 R. Whately Elem. Logic (ed. 4) Pref. p. xxvi By learning questions and answers by rote:—in the cant phrase of undergraduates, by getting crammed.
1861 T. Hughes Tom Brown at Oxf. I. xi. 189 He had been well crammed in his science.
1864 C. Knight Passages Working Life II. ix. 179 Cramming Ministers and Members of Parliament with statistical facts.
1879 Daily News 17 Sept. 3/5 Their boys had not been crammed, but had diligently studied their subjects.
b. To ‘get up’ (a subject) hastily for an occasion, without any regard to its permanent retention or educative influence.
ΚΠ
1853 E. Bulwer-Lytton My Novel II. vii. xxi. 285 Randal had spent the afternoon in cramming the subject from agricultural journals and Parliamentary reports.
1868 M. Pattison Suggestions Acad. Organisation v. 184 Wasting six months in cramming up a minimum of forgetable matter.
1873 A. Helps Some Talk about Animals & their Masters vi. 149 Discumbering our minds of what we have crammed up for the occasion.
c. absol. or intransitive.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > teaching > systematic or formal teaching > [verb (transitive)] > cram
cram1810
society > education > learning > study > [verb (intransitive)] > cram
cram1810
gen1940
1810 E. Tatham New Addr. Free Members Convoc. Oxford 21 The business of cramming preparatory to Public Examination.
1875 ‘A. R. Hope’ My Schoolboy Friends 150 ‘What are you cramming at?’ said he.
1882 E. J. Worboise Sissie xv. 152 She can cram for an examination.
7. transitive. To urge on forcibly (a horse). slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > transport > riding on horse (or other animal) > ride (a horse or other animal) [verb (transitive)] > urge on
streeka1500
push1590
put1590
whigc1667
cramc1830
to call upon ——1842
double-thong1856
giddap1938
c1830 C. Wicksted Cheshire Hunt iv, in Eg.-Warburton Hunt. Songs (1883) 227 Who's cramming his mare up yon steep rotten bank?
1840 E. E. Napier Scenes & Sports Foreign Lands I. i. 15 Getting to the bottom of the nullah as best I might, I crammed my steed up the opposite sides.
1852 R. S. Surtees Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour xii. lxviii. 379 Taking his horse back a few paces, [he]..crammed him manfully at the palings, and got over.
8. intransitive. To thrust oneself in, intrude. dialect.
ΚΠ
1881 S. Evans Evans's Leicestershire Words (new ed.) Cram, to intrude. ‘My Papa doesn't like me to cram in that way’.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : cram-comb. form
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n.1614
v.c1000see also