[klamp] 
| 1. | a device, usually of some rigid material, for strengthening or supporting objects or fastening them together. |
| 2. | an appliance with opposite sides or parts that may be adjusted or brought closer together to hold or compress something. |
| 3. | one of a pair of movable pieces, made of lead or other soft material, for covering the jaws of a vise and enabling it to grasp without bruising. |
| 4. | Also called clamp rail. Carpentry. a rail having a groove or a number of mortises for receiving the ends of a number of boards to bind them into a flat piece, as a drawing board or door. |
| 5. | Nautical.
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| 6. | to fasten with or fix in a clamp. |
| 7. | clamp down, to become more strict: There were too many tax loopholes, so the government clamped down. |
| 8. | clamp down on, to impose or increase controls on. |
clamp (klāmp)
n.
An instrument for the compression or grasping of a structure.
clamp down on
Also, put the clamps on. Become stricter or more repressive; put a stop to. For example, The company was clamping down on expenses like business lunches, or It's time we put the clamps on polluters. [Mid-1900s]