crambo

[ kram-boh ]

noun,plural cram·boes.
  1. a game in which one person or side must find a rhyme to a word or a line of verse given by another.

  2. inferior rhyme.

Origin of crambo

1
First recorded in 1600–10; earlier crambe <Latin crambē repetīta “cabbage reheated, re-served,” a phrase used in Juvenal's “Seventh Satire” (“Reheated cabbage kills teachers”) in reference to unimaginative writing, from Greek krámbē “cabbage”

Words Nearby crambo

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How to use crambo in a sentence

  • It was like a game of dumb crambo, as Peter acted a word, and the old lady tried to guess his meaning.

  • Mrs. Campbell began as usual to talk baby language, and play a kind of Dumb crambo at him.

    The Limit | Ada Leverson
  • The few works which treat on the subject have all become as obselete as “hot cockles” and “crambo.”

  • Mary says in her second letter: We had a tremendous fit of crambo again last night from eight to eleven without stopping.

    Miss Eden's Letters | Emily Eden
  • Sir Guy nearly died of crambo, and was very near taking a Dictionary with him the next time.

    Miss Eden's Letters | Emily Eden

British Dictionary definitions for crambo

crambo

/ (ˈkræmbəʊ) /


noun
  1. a word game in which one team says a rhyme or rhyming line for a word or line given by the other team

Origin of crambo

1
C17: from earlier crambe, probably from Latin crambē repetīta cabbage repeated, hence an old story, a rhyming game, from Greek krambē

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012