clamp

Etymology 1

From Middle Dutch clamp, klampe (“a clamp, hook”), from Proto-Germanic *klampō (“clamp, clasp, cramp”), related to Proto-West Germanic *klammjan. Cognate with Middle Low German klampe (“hook, clasp”), German Klampfe, Klampe (“clamp, cleat”), Norwegian klamp (“clamp”), Alemannic German Chlempi.

noun

1. A brace, band, or clasp for strengthening or holding things together.
2. (medicine) An instrument used to temporarily shut off blood vessels, etc.
3. (UK) A parking enforcement device used to immobilise a car until it can be towed or a fine is paid; a wheel clamp.
4. A mass of bricks heaped up to be burned; or of ore for roasting, or of coal coking.
5. A pile of agricultural produce such as root vegetables or silage stored under a layer of earth or an airtight sheet.
6. A piece of wood (batten) across the grain of a board end to keep it flat, as in a breadboard.
7. (electronics) An electronic circuit that fixes either the positive or the negative peak excursions of a signal to a defined value by shifting its DC value.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To fasten in place or together with (or as if with) a clamp.
2. (transitive) To hold or grip tightly.
3. (transitive) To modify (a numeric value) so it lies within a specific range by replacing values outside the range with the closest value within the range.
   After the depth range is clamped, the depth value is read from the depth stencil buffer, and the two values are compared with a selectable depth-comparison function […] 2016, Jason Zink, Matt Pettineo, Jack Hoxley, Practical Rendering and Computation with Direct3D 11, page 253
4. (UK, obsolete, transitive) To cover (vegetables, etc.) with earth.
5. (transitive) To immobilise (a vehicle) by means of a wheel clamp.
   I was only parked there for five minutes but my car was still clamped.

Etymology 2

Imitative.

noun

1. (dated) A heavy footstep; a tramp.

verb

1. (intransitive, dated) To tread heavily or clumsily; to clump or clomp.