WHEEL CLAMP

noun and verb Also written wheel-clamp or wheelclamp (Lifestyle and Leisure) noun: A clamp designed to be locked to one of the wheels of an illegally parked vehicle, thus immobilizing it until the appropriate fine has been paid and the clamp is removed. transitive verb: To immobilize (a vehicle) by attaching one of these clamps; to clamp. Also, by extension, to subject (a person) to the experience of having his or her car clamped. Etymology: Formed by compounding. History and Usage: The wheel clamp was first used in the city of Denver, Colorado, allegedly as long ago as 1949. At that time, though, it was not known as a wheel clamp: from the late sixties, the device was nicknamed the Denver boot or Denver shoe, and it was not until the eighties, when the idea was widely taken up in the UK, that wheel clamp started to be used as a neutral name for these objects. The metal clamp prevents one of the wheels of the car from turning, and sometimes also positions a sharp spike above the front of the car to deter attempts to drive out of it. Although very unpopular, wheel clamping is very effective and therefore seems likely to remain a part of everyday life in car-based societies. Right now the world is in a dreadful state what with terrorists, famine and wheel clamping. Comic Relief Christmas Book (1986), p. 103 His powers of forbearance had been severely stretched the night before when he found himself wheel-clamped outside a restaurant. 'I said something unpleasant to this man and afterwards I felt absolutely awful.' Sunday Express Magazine 1 Feb. 1987, p. 18 Wheel clamps have recently been introduced in Rome in a move against illegal parking. Holiday Which? Mar. 1990, p. 73