Dictionary

clampy en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• /ˈklæmpi/ (UK, US)
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

From clamp + -y.

Meanings

1. Resembling a clamp; clamp-like.
   • 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=0ahUKEwiNo4q2wJDLAhUlk3IKHYCrAQY4FBDoAQggMAE#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
   • The hermit crab must somehow sqeeze, His clampy claws and knobby knees 2010, 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
2. unwieldy, clumsy, hard to wield or control (of hands) through the clamping of muscles.
   • 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=0ahUKEwiVqdGqtpDLAhUD63IKHRLuBEA4ChDoAQg6MAY#v=onepage&q=clampy&f=false
   • 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=0ahUKEwiVqdGqtpDLAhUD63IKHRLuBEA4ChDoAQhAMAc#v=onepage&q=clampy&f=falseː Her hands were clampy, speech unsure and eyes half-closed.
   • His hands grew clampy with cold.

Forms