What is "crimp"

Crimp \Crimp\ (kr[i^]mp), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crimped (kr[i^]mt; 215); p. pr. & vb. n. Crimping.] [Akin to D. krimpen to shrink, shrivel, Sw. krympa, Dan. krympe, and to E. cramp. See Cramp.]

1. To fold or plait in regular undulation in such a way that the material will retain the shape intended; to give a wavy appearance to; as, to crimp the border of a cap; to crimp a ruffle. Cf. Crisp.

   The comely hostess in a crimped cap.
   --W. Irving.

2. To pinch and hold; to seize.

3. Hence, to entrap into the military or naval service; as, to crimp seamen.

   Coaxing and courting with intent to crimp him.
   --Carlyle.

4. (Cookery) To cause to contract, or to render more crisp, as the flesh of a fish, by gashing it, when living, with a knife; as, to crimp skate, etc.

5. (Firearms) In cartridge making, to fold the edge of (a cartridge case) inward so as to close the mouth partly and confine the charge. Crimping house, a low lodging house, into which men are decoyed and plied with drink, to induce them to ship or enlist as sailors or soldiers. Crimping iron.

   1. An iron instrument for crimping and curling the hair.

   2. A crimping machine.

      Crimping machine, a machine with fluted rollers or with dies, for crimping ruffles, leather, iron, etc.

      Crimping pin, an instrument for crimping or puckering the border of a lady's cap.

Crimp \Crimp\, a.

1. Easily crumbled; friable; brittle. [R.]

   Now the fowler . . . treads the crimp earth.
   --J. Philips.

2. Weak; inconsistent; contradictory. [R.]

   The evidence is crimp; the witnesses swear backward and forward, and contradict themselves.
   --Arbuthnot.

Crimp \Crimp\, n.

1. A coal broker. [Prov. Eng.]
   --De Foe.

2. One who decoys or entraps men into the military or naval service. -- Marryat.

3. A keeper of a low lodging house where sailors and emigrants are entrapped and fleeced.

4. Hair which has been crimped; -- usually in pl.

5. A game at cards. [Obs.]
   --B. Jonson.

   Boot crimp. See under Boot.

1630s; Old English had gecrympan "to crimp, curl," but the modern word probably is from Middle Dutch or Low German crimpen/krimpen "to shrink, crimp." Related: Crimped; crimping.

1863, from crimp (v.). Originally "natural curl in wool fiber." To put a crimp in (something) is 1896, U.S. slang.

Etymology 1

1. 1 (context obsolete English) Easily crumbled; friable; brittle. 2 (context obsolete English) Weak; inconsistent; contradictory. n. 1 A fastener or a fastening method that secures parts by bending metal around a joint and squeezing it together, often with a tool that adds indentations to capture the parts. 2 (context obsolete UK dialect English) A coal broker. 3 (context obsolete English) One who decoys or entraps men into the military or naval service. 4 (context obsolete English) A keeper of a low lodging house where sailors and emigrants are entrapped and fleeced. 5 (context usually in the plural English) A hairstyle which has been crimped, or shaped so it bends back and forth in many short kinks. 6 (context obsolete English) A card game. v

2. 1 To fasten by bending metal so that it squeezes around the parts to be fastened. 2 To pinch and hold; to seize. 3 To style hair into a crimp. 4 To join the edges of food products. For example: Cornish pasty, pies, jiaozi, Jamaican patty, and sealed crustless sandwiches. Etymology 2

   n. An agent making it his business to procure seamen, soldiers, et

3. , especially by seducing, decoying, entrapping, or impressing them. [Since the passing of the Merchant Shipping Act of 1854, applied to one who infringes sub-section 1 of this Act, i.e. to a person other than the owner, master, etc., who engages seamen without a license from the Board of Trade.] vb. To impress (seamen or soldiers); to entrap, to decoy.

1. n. an angular or rounded shape made by folding; "a fold in the napkin"; "a crease in his trousers"; "a plication on her blouse"; "a flexure of the colon"; "a bend of his elbow" [syn: fold, crease, plication, flexure, bend]

2. someone who tricks or coerces men into service as sailors or soldiers [syn: crimper]

3. a lock of hair that has been artificially waved or curled

4. v. make ridges into by pinching together [syn: pinch]

5. curl tightly; "crimp hair" [syn: crape, frizzle, frizz, kink up, kink]

Crimping is joining 2 pieces of metal or other ductile material (usually a wire and a metal plate) by deforming one or both of them to hold the other. The bend or deformity is called the crimp.

Crimp(ing) may refer to:

• Crimp (climbing), a small hold with little surface area
• Crimp (gambling), a bent corner of a card to facilitate cheating
• Crimp (joining), a deformity in metal used to make a join
• Crimp (recruitment) or shanghaiing, to shanghai or conscript men as sailors
• A style of song in the British comedy series The Mighty Boosh (TV series)
• Crimp (wool), the number of bends per unit of length
• Crimp connection (electronics), a type of solderless connection
• Crimping pliers, tools for squeezing things together
• Grain crimping, an organic way to preserve feed grain
• Hair crimping, a method of styling hair
• Staple remover, also known as a "crimper"
• Crimp, Cornwall, a hamlet in England

In gambling terminology a crimp is a bend that has been intentionally made on the corner(s) of a playing card to facilitate identification.

A card cheat will typically bend some of the important cards during the game. Below are just several of the most popular examples.

In poker, for instance, a cheat may crimp one of the cards to mark off the exact location where he wishes his secret conspirator to cut the deck. Similarly, if the card cheat is not working with a confederate, he may bend one or more cards to force a cut upon an unsuspecting victim. In either case the deck will most likely be cut at the exact predetermined spot in the same way an old book always tends to open at the same page.

Another poker scenario (also popular in numerous other games) is to crimp some of the high-value cards during the early rounds. On subsequent rounds the cheat will be able to identify some of those cards during the deal. This enables the cheat to employ a second deal and deal some of those cards to the desired hand, or simply to identify some of the cards held by other players. In any event, the cheat has a mathematical edge over the other players.

In casino blackjack a crossroader may crimp all the 10-value cards. this will enable the cheat to sometimes identify the dealer's hole card (the dealer has one card face up, called the up card, and one card face down, called the hole card). In those instances the cheat(s) will know the dealer's total and play their hand(s) accordingly.