Definition of "clamp" []

• Any of various devices used to join, grip, support, or compress mechanical or structural parts. (noun)
• Any of various tools with opposing, often adjustable sides or parts for bracing objects or holding them together. (noun)
• To fasten, grip, or support with or as if with a clamp. (verb-transitive)
• To establish by authority; impose: clamped a tax on imports. (verb-transitive)
• Clamp down To become more strict or repressive; impose controls: clamping down on environment polluters. (phrasal-verb)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Police seized 20,945 litres of alcoholic drinks 44,265 pints from underage drinkers during a February half term clamp down on public drinking, Home Office Minister Vernon Coaker announced today."
• "A pipe clamp is really a necessary tool when using screws with roughcut lumber."
• "The level of patriotic indignation in China against posturing by American and European politicians over Tibet is already so high that a long-term clamp-down in Tibet seems inevitable, while public support in China for continued cooperation with the West can no longer be taken for granted."