What does crimper mean?
A crimper is any person or tool designed to crimp — that is, to press small, regular folds or ridges into a soft material, or to squeeze and seal two things together. In everyday use the word most often names a specific implement. In hairdressing, a crimper is a heated tong-like appliance with corrugated plates that stamps zig-zag waves into hair, a look strongly associated with 1980s fashion but still used to add volume and texture. In cookery, a pastry crimper flutes and seals pie crusts along their rim. In trades such as electrical work and jewellery-making, a crimper (or crimping tool) compresses terminals onto wires or closes crimp beads and metal findings. Historically, a crimper could also mean someone who crimped men into naval service by deception or force. As an agent noun built on the verb 'crimp', the word is functional rather than figurative, carrying no particular connotation beyond its practical trade associations.
nounA crimper is a tool or device used to press small folds or ridges into material, such as hair or the edges of pastry; it is also a person who crimps something, especially one who seals or pleats metal, leather, or fabric.
- A heated styling tool with corrugated plates used to press small ridges into hair.
- A hand tool used to compress, seal, or shape materials such as wire connectors, metal caps, or leather.
- A kitchen utensil used to flute or seal the edges of pies and pastries.
- A person whose work involves crimping, such as a craftsman sealing metal or a historical agent who recruited sailors for ships.
"She ran the heated crimper through her hair to give it volume and texture."
"He stripped the cable ends and fastened them with a crimper before fitting the plug."
"Using a fluted crimper, she pinched an even border around the edge of the apple pie."
Regular plural; used when referring to multiple tools or people, though a single styling tool is usually just 'a crimper'.
"The salon stocked several different crimpers for creating textured styles."
Before curling wands took over bathrooms everywhere, generations of stylists reached for a zig-zagged crimper to turn flat hair into instant eighties volume.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crimper
Crimper derives from the English verb 'crimp', which has been in use since at least the seventeenth century and originally meant to curl or bend something into small folds. The verb's further origin is uncertain; it may be related to Middle Dutch 'crompe' or Old English 'crymel', words connected with bending or crumbling, though scholars have not settled the matter definitively. From this verb, English regularly formed the agent noun 'crimper' to denote whoever or whatever performs the action, giving rise to its modern senses in hairdressing, cookery, and various crafts and trades.
Related word forms
How crimper is actually used
The word is a straightforward agent noun from the verb 'crimp', so it appears mostly in trade, craft, and beauty contexts. In hairstyling it is often called simply a 'crimper' or 'hair crimper'; in trades such as electrical work it is usually called a 'crimping tool'. The nautical sense, referring to a person who crimps seamen into service, is now chiefly of historical interest.
Easily confused with crimper
The verb 'crimp' is the action of pressing folds or ridges into something, while 'crimper' is the noun denoting the person or tool that performs that action.