Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

clamp

1 verb
     
clamp1 [transitive]
1 [always + adverb/preposition] to put or hold something in a position so that it cannot move:
She clamped her hands over her ears.
Creed opened his mouth to speak, then clamped it shut.
2

clamp sanctions/restrictions etc on somebody

to put limits on what someone is allowed to do:
The President clamped sanctions on the island after the bomb attack.
3 [always + adverb/preposition] to hold two things together, using a clamp:
Clamp the two parts together until the glue dries.
4 also wheel-clamp [usually passive] British English to put a clamp on the wheel of a car so that the car cannot be driven away. This is usually done because the car is illegally parked [= boot American English]
He returned, only to discover his car had been clamped.

clamp down

phrasal verb
to take firm action to stop a particular type of crime
clamp down on
The police are clamping down on drink-driving offenders.
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

Dictionary pictures of the day
Do you know what each of these is called?
What is the word for picture 1? What is the word for picture 2? What is the word for picture 3? What is the word for picture 4?
Click on any of the pictures above to find out what it is called.

Explore our topic dictionary

Browse the dictionary