Also crampoon. [a. F. crampon, late L. type crampōn-em, deriv. of radical form *cramp, f. LG.: cf. CRAMP sb.1, 2.]
1. A bar of iron or other metal bent in the form of a hook, to serve as a grapple or clutch; a grappling-iron; also = CRAMP sb.2 2.
1490. Caxton, Eneydos, x. 39. There myghte ye see sayles rente, Cordes and ropes broken, And crampons of yron wrythen a sondre and plucked oute.
c. 1530. Ld. Berners, Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814), 143. The brase … was so sore bounde with crampons of stele to ye benche, that he coude not remeue it.
1660. Howell, Parly of Beasts, 7 (D.). Man with his crampons and harping-irons can draw ashore the great Leviathan.
1696. Phillips, Crampons, pieces of Iron, hooked at the ends, which are fastned to great Pieces of Timber, Stones or other things, to pull ’em up or draw ’em along. [Ibid. (1706) (ed. Kersey) Crampoons].
1876. Gwilt, Archit., Gloss., Crampoons, hooked pieces of iron, something like double calipers, for raising timber or stones.
† 2. ‘The border of metal which keeps a stone in a ring’ (Halliwell). Obs.
3. A small plate of iron set with spikes or points which is fastened to the foot to secure a firmer hold in walking over ice or slippery ground, or in climbing a steep. Cf. CRAMPET 3.
1789. Coxe, Trav. Switz., xxx. I. 421. To secure us as much as possible from slipping, the guides fastened to our shoes crampons, or small bars of iron, provided with four small spikes of the same metal.
1823. F. Clissold, Ascent Mt. Blanc, 11–2. As we had now to enter on the glaciers, I wore my spiked shoes, and the guides tied on their crampons.
1823. Crabb, Technol. Dict., Crampoons, iron instruments fastened to the shoes of a storming party, to assist them in climbing a rampart.
1856. Patent Jrnl., 5 Sept. A crampon to prevent horses slipping in frosty weather.
1866. Cornh. Mag., Oct., 481. Our crampons … were very useful on ice or hardened snow.
4. Bot. ‘A name given to adventitious roots which serve as fulcra or supports, as in the Ivy.’ [So in F.: see Littré.]
1870. Balfour, Class-bk. Bot., Gloss.
