Word.ws English Dictionary

put a crimp in

put a crimp in verb: used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, crimp, in.

Verb

put a crimp in (third-person singular simple present puts a crimp in, present participle putting a crimp in, simple past and past participle put a crimp in)

  1. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, crimp, in.
  2. To spoil; to affect badly, preventing the usual or desired effect.
    • This put a crimp in my style, so I was determined we were going to find our own place faster than the timetable we'd set ourselves.2010, Gay Fifer, The River in Egypt, →ISBN
    • Everyone had expected the economic recession to put a crimp in Davis's ambitions.2012, Bill Finch, Beth Maynor Young, Rhett Johnson, Longleaf, Far as the Eye Can See, →ISBN

Examples of put a crimp in in a sentence

  • Would marriage somehow put a crimp in your image as a beautiful, successful and single newscaster?2013, Devon Vaughn Archer, Love Is In The Air, →ISBN:
  • It sure would put a crimp in things to have any vandalism happen here.2014, Gail Loreth, Sarah’s Revenge, →ISBN, page 57:

Forms of put a crimp in

third-person singular presentputs a crimp in
present participleputting a crimp in
past participleput a crimp in
pastput a crimp in

Origin of put a crimp in

By analogy with putting a crimp in a pipe or hose, thereby slowing or stopping the flow of liquid through it.

Questions about put a crimp in

What does put a crimp in mean?
Put a crimp in means used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see put, crimp, in.
How do you use put a crimp in in a sentence?
Would marriage somehow put a crimp in your image as a beautiful, successful and single newscaster?
What part of speech is put a crimp in?
Put a crimp in is a verb.
What is the past tense of put a crimp in?
The past tense of put a crimp in is put a crimp in.

Words near put a crimp in in the dictionary

  1. put a brave face on
  2. put a bug in someone's ear
  3. put a civil tongue in one's head
  4. put a civil tongue in one's mouth
  5. put a cork in it
  6. put a crimp in
  7. put a damper on
  8. put a dent in the universe
  9. put a finger to the wind
  10. put a foot wrong
  11. put a gun to someone's head

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: put a crimp in (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.

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Cite this entry: “put a crimp in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/put_a_crimp_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.