sudden cramp
- noun
- /ˈsʌdən kræmp/
:
calambre repentino
- After sitting for too long, he felt a sudden cramp in his back.
Examples
-
The athlete paused to massage the sudden cramp in his calf muscle.
-
She experienced a sudden cramp in her leg during the race.
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My stomach announced its displeasure in a sudden cramp.
Fiction book (1998)
Synonyms
58
3.9
A sudden tight movement of a muscle that causes pain
16
7.9
A sudden sharp pain in the neck or back that makes it hard to move
7
3.4
A sudden tight movement of a muscle that hurts or feels uncomfortable
4
6.1
A sudden painful tight feeling in the neck or back
Antonyms
How Painful
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a sharp, unexpected muscle spasm' is directly and compositionally derived from 'sudden' (happening without prior notice) modifying 'cramp' (an involuntary, painful muscle contraction). This simple adjective+noun pattern is cross-linguistically common and follows straightforward semantic rules, so a B1 learner who knows both constituent words will understand the phrase.
Etymology
The noun sudden cramp comes from a simple image: the word cramp is like a muscle being grabbed or squeezed, and the word sudden shows it happens without warning. That's why sudden cramp means 'a sharp, unexpected muscle spasm that causes pain'.