cram

—crammingly, adv.

/kram/, v., crammed, cramming, n.

v.t.

1. to fill (something) by force with more than it can easily hold.

2. to force or stuff (usually fol. by into, down, etc.).

3. to fill with or as with an excessive amount of food; overfeed.

4. Informal.

a. to prepare (a person), as for an examination, by having him or her memorize information within a short period of time.

b. to acquire knowledge of (a subject) by so preparing oneself.

5. Archaic. to tell lies to.

v.i.

6. to eat greedily or to excess.

7. to study for an examination by memorizing facts at the last minute.

8. to press or force accommodation in a room, vehicle, etc., beyond normal or comfortable capacity; crowd; jam: The whole team crammed into the bus.

n.

9. Informal. the act of cramming for an examination.

10. a crammed state.

11. a dense crowd; throng.

[bef. 1000; ME crammen, OE crammian to stuff, akin to crimman to put in]

Syn. 1. crowd, pack, squeeze, compress, overcrowd. 3. glut. 6. gorge.

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