  The middle-aged supernova remnant (SNR) CTB 37A is known to interact with
several dense molecular clouds through the detection of shocked ${\rm H_{2}}$
and OH 1720 MHz maser emission. In the present work, we use eight years of
$\textit Fermi$-LAT Pass 8 data, with an improved point-spread function and an
increased acceptance, to perform detailed morphological and spectral studies of
the $\gamma$-ray emission toward CTB 37A from 200 MeV to 200 GeV. The best fit
of the source extension is obtained for a very compact Gaussian model with a
significance of 5.75$\sigma$ and a 68\% containment radius of $0.116^{\circ}$
$\pm$ $0.014^{\circ}_{\rm stat}$ $\pm$ $0.017^{\circ}_{\rm sys}$ above 1 GeV,
which is larger than the TeV emission size. The energy spectrum is modeled as a
LogParabola, resulting in a spectral index $\alpha$ = 1.92 $\pm$ 0.19 at 1 GeV
and a curvature $\beta$ = 0.18 $\pm$ 0.05, which becomes softer than the TeV
spectrum above 10 GeV. The SNR properties, including a dynamical age of 6000
yr, are derived assuming the Sedov phase. From the multiwavelength modeling of
emission toward the remnant, we conclude that the nonthermal radio and GeV
emission is mostly due to the reacceleration of preexisting cosmic rays (CRs)
by radiative shocks in the adjacent clouds. Furthermore, the observational data
allow us to constrain the total kinetic energy transferred to the trapped CRs
in the clouds. Based on these facts, we infer a composite nature for CTB 37A to
explain the broadband spectrum and to elucidate the nature of the observed
$\gamma$-ray emission.
