Word.ws English Dictionary

clampy

/ˈklæmpi/

clampy adjective: resembling a clamp; clamp-like.

Adjective

clampy (comparative more clampy, superlative most clampy)

  1. Resembling a clamp; clamp-like.
    • The hermit crab must somehow sqeeze, His clampy claws and knobby knees2010, Susan Blackaby Nest, Nook & Cranny, https://books.google.ru/books?id=YzuKGDXIKZQC&pg=PA16&dq=clampy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVqdGqtpDLAhUD63IKHRLuBEA4ChDoAQg0MAU#v=onepage&q=clampy&f=false
    • She held up the little metal clampy thing and squeezed the ends together.2013, Laura Morrigan, Woof at the Door, https://books.google.ru/books?id=kSerwpK7So8C&pg=PT30&dq=clampy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNo4q2wJDLAhUlk3IKHYCrAQY4FBDoAQgaMAA#v=onepage&q=clampy&f=false
  2. unwieldy, clumsy, hard to wield or control (of hands) through the clamping of muscles.
    • His hands grew clampy with cold.
    • Her hands were clampy, speech unsure and eyes half-closed.2005, Emmanuel Acheta, Duel With a Dictator. An African Woman's Political Struggle, https://books.google.ru/books?id=0nseN228J-QC&pg=PA154&dq=clampy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVqdGqtpDLAhUD63IKHRLuBEA4ChD...

Examples of clampy in a sentence

  • The coffee table is a cluttered smorgasbord of medical shit - tubes and tapes and bags and scissors and clampy things.2013, Eliza Gordon, Must Love Otters, https://books.google.ru/books?id=_cWvAQAAQBAJ&pg=PT39&dq=clampy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiNo4q2wJDLAhUlk3...
  • The reptiles roared, throwing their heads back in exultation, and threw away their useless weapons, which they could no longer hold efficiently with their clampy hands.2010, Lewis A. Walmsley, Glassidor, https://books.google.ru/books?id=kb7eci6LnDsC&pg=PA112&dq=clampy&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiVqdGqtpDLAhUD63I...

Forms of clampy

comparativemore clampy
superlativemost clampy

Origin of clampy

From clamp + -y.

Questions about clampy

What does clampy mean?
Clampy means resembling a clamp; clamp-like.
How do you use clampy in a sentence?
The coffee table is a cluttered smorgasbord of medical shit - tubes and tapes and bags and scissors and clampy things.
What part of speech is clampy?
Clampy is an adjective.
How do you pronounce clampy?
Clampy is pronounced /ˈklæmpi/ (UK).

Words near clampy in the dictionary

  1. clampless
  2. clamplike
  3. clamps
  4. clamps down on
  5. clamps off
  6. clampy
  7. clams
  8. clams casino
  9. clams oreganata
  10. clams up
  11. clamshell

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: clampy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-clampy.wav.

Cite this entry: “clampy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clampy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.