Green’s Dictionary of Slang

to cheat, to act criminally, esp. to bet openly on one side and then to cheat in favour of the other, on which one has bet surreptitiously; thus crimp game n.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: To play Crimp, to lay or bet on one side, and (by foul play) to let t’other win, having a share of it.
1719		in D’Urfey Pills to Purge Melancholy II 53: Let Jades that are founder’d be bought, / Let Jockeys play Crimp to make sport.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1759		C. Macklin Love à la Mode II i: Why, the knowing ones are all taken in here — double distanc’d; zounds! she has run a crimp upon us.
1785, 1788, 1796		Grose Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue n.p.: To crimp, or play crimp; to play foul or booty.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum [as cit. 1785].
1823		Egan Grose’s Classical Dict. of the Vulgar Tongue.
1889		‘Jack the Ripper’ letter July in Evans & Skinner Jack the Ripper (2001) 272: [N]o more crimping at poker , and the sucker shall have a look in no more ringing in a cold deck no more reflectors [...] I guess he may chuck his bugs.
1901		Sydney Sportsman (Surry Hills, NSW) 11 Sept. 2/5: He pitches faries / Avl about his crimpin’ gells.
1924		G. Henderson Keys to Crookdom 420: Swindle game – scheme operated by a swindler [...] trimmer and crimp games.

(US) to thwart, to block, to impair, to interfere with.

1896		Ade Artie 63: They’ll put a crimp in him if things come their way.
1898		F.P. Dunne Mr Dooley in Peace and War 1: This here Sagasta is a boonco steerer like Canada Bill. [...] A smart man is this Sagasta, an’ wan tha can put a crimp in th’ ca-ards.
1899		Ade Fables in Sl. (1902) 124: He didn’t [...] work the Soft Pedal when he had a chance to apply a Crimp to some Widow who had seen Better Days.
1908		Phila. Inquirer 2 Oct. in Fleming Unforgettable Season (1981) 274: Another crimp was put in the pennant aspirations of the tribe of McGraw.
1912		Van Loan ‘Loosening Up of Hogan’ in Ten-Thousand-Dollar Arm 152: Don’t fail to return this check [...] losing it would put an awful crimp in the bank roll.
1915		S. Ford Torchy, Private Sec. 166: And if you can wish back that twenty thousand, I’ll put a quick crimp in this prosecution.
1920		F. Packard White Moll 170: I’ve got to put a crimp in it, and you’ve got to help me.
1935		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Judgement Day in Studs Lonigan (1936) 524: So we don’t get our contract, and it’s going to put quite a crimp in our style.
1949		F. Brown Dead Ringer 119: He knows the kid being gone will put a crimp in the jig show.
1955		B. Appel Tough Guy [ebook] The Spotter’d put a crimp in him, all right—the crimp of caution.
1971		S.J. Perelman letter 30 Nov. in Crowther Don’t Tread on Me (1987) 270: Alcohol is forbidden with this medication [...] that puts a crimp on most socializing.
2015		Courier-News (Bridgewater, NJ) 10 Apr. A14/1: Analysts expect a new natural ‘Jacked Up’ pill could put a huge crimp into ‘Big Pharma’ profits.

1. to set up a crooked horserace.

c.1698		B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: Run a Crimp, to run a Race or Horse-match fouly or knavishly.
1725		New Canting Dict. [as cit. c.1698].
1737, 1759, 1760, 1776		Bailey Universal Etym. Eng. Dict. [as cit. c.1698].

2. see play crimp

to hit, to punch.

1904

Salt Lake Tribune (UT) 31 Jan. 17/2: Roarin’ like a bull I raked my jaw sideways [...] an’ threw another crimp into him .