1
as in squeezing
to fit (people or things) into a tight space
tried to cram one more book into the backpack
Synonyms & Similar Words
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2
as in filling
to put into (something) as much as can be held or contained
crammed his mouth with candy
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in gorging
to fill with food to capacity
one of those eating contests in which competitors attempt to cram themselves with as many hot dogs as they can in three minutes
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
4
as in inhaling
to swallow or eat greedily
the thoughtless guest crammed a dinner that had taken hours to prepare
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of cramming
Instead of cramming huge amounts of fiber into one meal, fiberlayering emphasizes distributing fiber steadily across the day and pulling it from a wide range of whole foods.
—
Kathleen Ferraro, Verywell Health, 5 Mar. 2026
Instead of cramming more expensive computers into the cars themselves, the team led by postdoctoral researcher Kun Woo Cho decided to put the brains into the road.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Mar. 2026
But the low-income workers who make pizzas and hotel-room beds for the tourist-industrial complex — the ones who live by cramming two or three people into a one-bedroom rental?
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2026
This can maintain some stability and consistency on the back end of a franchise’s operation, rather than rushing an entirely new system into place and cramming for the annual test that is building an NFL roster.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 23 Feb. 2026
Backpacks are great for cramming a lot into a small space while staying organized and lightweight.
—Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Each story unfolds at a rapid pace, bouncing between provocative shots of eccentric people and cramming two distinct sets of warring neighbors into each half-hour episode.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
With the current contact period, during which coaches can visit recruits, ending Saturday and the following period not starting until mid-April, his team was busy booking charter flights and cramming seven days' worth of visits into four or five days.
—Doug Gollan, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
More people and new developments are cramming into Florida’s last-remaining greenspace, Lindsey O’Donnell said.
—Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
Kathleen Ferraro, Verywell Health, 5 Mar. 2026
Instead of cramming more expensive computers into the cars themselves, the team led by postdoctoral researcher Kun Woo Cho decided to put the brains into the road.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 Mar. 2026
But the low-income workers who make pizzas and hotel-room beds for the tourist-industrial complex — the ones who live by cramming two or three people into a one-bedroom rental?
—Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board, The Orlando Sentinel, 26 Feb. 2026
This can maintain some stability and consistency on the back end of a franchise’s operation, rather than rushing an entirely new system into place and cramming for the annual test that is building an NFL roster.
—Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 23 Feb. 2026
Backpacks are great for cramming a lot into a small space while staying organized and lightweight.
—Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 23 Feb. 2026
Each story unfolds at a rapid pace, bouncing between provocative shots of eccentric people and cramming two distinct sets of warring neighbors into each half-hour episode.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 13 Feb. 2026
With the current contact period, during which coaches can visit recruits, ending Saturday and the following period not starting until mid-April, his team was busy booking charter flights and cramming seven days' worth of visits into four or five days.
—Doug Gollan, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
More people and new developments are cramming into Florida’s last-remaining greenspace, Lindsey O’Donnell said.
—Abigail Hasebroock, Sun Sentinel, 10 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cramming
Verb
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Other business leaders have trialed, but then dialed back, four-day work week experiments after seeing the strain of squeezing five days of work into four.—
Sydney Lake,
Fortune,
3 Mar. 2026
-
The business has been brutal for the last couple of years — the pandemic, the strikes, the profit squeezing that led to a bunch of reduced production.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Oil storage tanks are filling up across the region, analysts say, since exports have all but stopped due to the Iranians effectively closing the Strait of Hormuz.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
6 Mar. 2026
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Dreamers has flat spots here and there, but its messianic clarity never has trouble filling the room.—
Brian Howe,
Pitchfork,
6 Mar. 2026
Verb
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And all those who find the Dodgers’ gorging offensive also tend to overlook that their spending provides real benefits as well.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
16 Jan. 2026
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Of all the schemes that humans have devised to keep sea lions from gorging on the salmon of the Columbia River basin, none has worked for long.—
Katherine J. Wu,
The Atlantic,
7 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Your daughter breathes that same air, inhaling the virus directly into her respiratory tract.—
Elizabeth Bruenig,
The Atlantic,
12 Feb. 2026
-
These new players were inhaling possibilities.—
Jerry Brewer,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Such efforts would have likely included hacking military networks, jamming radar systems, disrupting satellites, and destroying communication nodes.—
Christopher McFadden,
Interesting Engineering,
8 Mar. 2026
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If our fates were inscribed in our genetics, why would anyone bother to maintain a skin-care routine, much less go to the trouble of jamming his tongue against the top of his mouth or whacking himself with a hammer?—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Laundry Detergent Sheets Part of what makes believing in the power of carry-on packing only for longer trips difficult is the challenge of having clean clothes.—
Kristin Braswell,
Travel + Leisure,
8 Mar. 2026
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Fill the hole gently, without packing the soil tightly around the roots.—
Holly McNamara,
Hartford Courant,
7 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Early in the premiere, M brags about her party guests devouring her fancy salad.—
Ben Travers,
IndieWire,
5 Mar. 2026
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Somali immigrants in Minnesota devouring residents’ cats and dogs?—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
3 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Aramco has been redirecting oil cargoes to Red Sea facilities on Saudi Arabia’s west coast to avoid the Strait of Hormuz, with eight supertankers loading from the area this month.—
Christine Burke,
Bloomberg,
8 Mar. 2026
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Yes, blueberries are great, but the key isn’t loading up on a single fruit.—
Lynn Andriani,
Martha Stewart,
7 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Cramming.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cramming. Accessed 12 Mar. 2026.
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