cram
/kɹæːm/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.14 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To press, force, or drive, particularly in filling, or in thrusting one thing into another; to stuff; to fill to superfluity.
Transitive verb
verb
To put hastily through an extensive course of memorizing or study, as in preparation for an examination.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "to cram fruit into a basket; to cram a room with people"
- "But you still need to check in with the Arch Linux community now and then to make sure that none of their crazy shit is going to be crammed down your throat the next update."
- "Are we to blame Livingstone for Tube overcrowding? In part, yes, but as Sir John Eliot had observed in 1955, while Chairman of the London Transport Executive: 'They're not crammed in. They cram themselves in.'"
- "The storm has passed when I arrive at Southampton Central, but more fun is to come. The station platforms and waiting rooms are crammed with people, many toting enormous amounts of baggage as they have just come off a cruise liner."
- "The boy crammed himself with cake"
- "A pupil is crammed by his tutor."
Etymology
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”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /kɹæːm/
- British English: /kɹæm/