The Collaborative International Dictionary
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.]
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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. To pinch and hold; to seize.
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Hence, to entrap into the military or naval service; as, to crimp seamen.
Coaxing and courting with intent to crimp him.
--Carlyle. (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.
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(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.
An iron instrument for crimping and curling the hair.
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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.
Wiktionary
n. The act by which something is crimped. vb. (present participle of crimp English)
Usage examples of "crimping".
The army was short of recruits, and crimping was one answer to that simple, eternal fact.
The army often contracted with a businessman to raise recruits, but crimping by a regiment was definitely outside the law.
He knew now what happened here, that Girdwood, Simmerson, and Lord Fenner were crimping on a grand scale.
His heart was still beating in extraordinary, tremulous excitement and he was filled with a crazy, idiotic happiness that made him want to laugh out loud, to shout his good news across these lonely marshes, to forget that he was trapped in this crimping business of Lieutenant Colonel Girdwood's Battalion.
It had even occurred to him that perhaps there were other camps doing the same crimping trade.
Smith, like Finch, had bought his Captaincy and paid off the debt with the crimping profits.
He had no proof now, no evidence of the crimping, and Sharpe knew the evidence was lost.
The crimping had been more profitable than he had ever dared hope and it would be hard to give up that income.
The brothels where such public-spirited ladies worked were known as Crimping Houses.
His face had a scrubbed pink gleam, and he kept crimping the corners of his mouth in an abortive smile.
Tait acquiesced in a voice that was neither cold nor cordial, and Qwilleran could imagine the crimping of the mouth that accompanied it.
Tait shuffled through the photographs, crimping the corners of his mouth and breathing heavily.
This last representation required careful crimping and most of her concentration, as she built up the crest of curls to an impressive height above her noble brow, but with the small portion of her mind that was uninvolved with her hair Ginger thought about the evening to come, taking her speculations about events to come in tiny sips like bitter coffee, or nibbling at them as at scorched macaroons, or paring away, cell by cell, as at the very old corn on her biggest toe.
At the same moment, the van's high, blunt front end crashes into the rear of the Lumina, splintering the taillights, snapping the bumper and crimping the trunk.
Queer carvings and crimpings and ridges forming ornate patterns all over the floor were, to the exploring hand, nonexistent.