Crastination Cras`ti·na"tion noun [ Latin crastinus of to-morrow, from cras to-morrow.] Procrastination; a putting off till to-morrow. [ Obsolete]

Cratch Cratch noun [ Middle English cracche , crecche , French crèche crib, manger, from Old High German krippa , krippea , German krippe crib. See Crib .] A manger or open frame for hay; a crib; a rack. [ Obsolete]

Begin from first where He encradled was,
In simple cratch , wrapt in a wad of hay.
Spenser.

Cratch cradle , a representation of the figure of the cratch, made upon the fingers with a string; cat's cradle; -- called also scratch cradle .

Crate Crate noun [ Latin cratis hurdle; perhaps akin to E. cradle . See Hurdle , and confer Crate a framework.] 1. A large basket or hamper of wickerwork, used for the transportation of china, crockery, and similar wares.

2. A box or case whose sides are of wooden slats with interspaces, -- used especially for transporting fruit.

Crate Crate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crated ; present participle & verbal noun Crating .] To pack in a crate or case for transportation; as, to crate a sewing machine; to crate peaches.

Crater Cra"ter noun [ Latin crater , cratera , a mixing vessel, the mouth of a volcano, Greek krath`r , from keranny`nai to mix; confer Sanskrit çrī to mix, çir to cook, çrā to cook. Confer Grail , in Holy Grail .] 1. The basinlike opening or mouth of a volcano, through which the chief eruption comes; similarly, the mouth of a geyser, about which a cone of silica is often built up.

2. (Mil.) The pit left by the explosion of a mine.

3. (Astron.) A constellation of the southen hemisphere; -- called also the Cup .

Crateriform Cra·ter"i·form adjective [ Latin cratera + -form .] (Botany) Having the form of a shallow bowl; -- said of a corolla.

Craterous Cra"ter·ous adjective Pertaining to, or resembling, a crater. [ R.] R. Browning.

Cratægus Cra·tæ"gus noun [ New Latin , from Greek krataigo`s .] (Botany) A genus of small, hardy trees, including the hawthorn, much used for ornamental purposes.

Craunch Craunch transitive verb & i. [ imperfect & past participle Craunched (kr?ncht); present participle & verbal noun Craunching .] [ See Crunch .] To crush with the teeth; to chew with violence and noise; to crunch. Swift.

Cravat Cra·vat" noun [ French cravate , from Cravate a Croat, an inhabitant of Croatia, one of a body of Austrian troops, from whom, in 1636, this article of dress was adopted in France.] A neckcloth; a piece of silk, fine muslin, or other cloth, worn by men about the neck.

While his wig was combed and his cravat tied.
Macaulay.

Cravatted Cra·vat`ted adjective Wearing a cravat.

The young men faultlessly appointed, handsomely cravatted .
Thackeray.

Crave Crave (krāv) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Craved (krāvd); p pr. & verbal noun Craving .] [ Anglo-Saxon crafian ; akin to Icelandic krefja , Swedish kräfva , Dan. kræve .] 1. To ask with earnestness or importunity; to ask with submission or humility; to beg; to entreat; to beseech; to implore.

I crave your honor's pardon.
Shak.

Joseph . . . went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the body of Jesus.
Mark xv. 43.

2. To call for, as a gratification; to long for; hence, to require or demand; as, the stomach craves food.

His path is one that eminently craves weary walking.
Edmund Gurney.

Syn. -- To ask; seek; beg; beseech; implore; entreat; solicit; request; supplicate; adjure.

Crave Crave intransitive verb To desire strongly; to feel an insatiable longing; as, a craving appetite.

Once one may crave for love.
Suckling.

Craven Cra"ven adjective [ Middle English cravant , cravaunde , Old French cravant... struck down, past participle of cravanter , crevanter , to break, crush, strike down, from an assumed Late Latin crepantare , from Latin crepans , present participle of crepare to break, crack, rattle. Confer Crevice , Crepitate .] Cowardly; fainthearted; spiritless. "His craven heart." Shak.

The poor craven bridegroom said never a word.
Sir. W. Scott.

In craven fear of the sarcasm of Dorset.
Macaulay.

Craven Cra"ven noun [ Formerly written also cravant and cravent .] A recreant; a coward; a weak-hearted, spiritless fellow. See Recreant , noun

King Henry . Is it fit this soldier keep his oath?
Fluellen . He is a craven and a villain else.
Shak.

Syn. -- Coward; poltroon; dastard.

Craven Cra"ven transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Cravened (-v'nd); present participle & verbal noun Cravening .] To make recreant, weak, spiritless, or cowardly. [ Obsolete]

There is a prohibition so divine,
That cravens my weak hand.
Shak.

Craver Crav"er noun One who craves or begs.

Craving Crav"ing noun Vehement or urgent desire; longing for; beseeching.

A succession of cravings and satiety.
L'Estrange.

-- Crav"ing*ly , adverb -- Crav"ing*ness , noun

Craw Craw (kra) noun [ Akin to Dutch kraag neck, collar, G. kragen , Swedish kräfva craw, Dan. kro , and possibly to Greek ............ (E. bronchus ), or bro`chqos throat. √25. Confer Crag neck.] (Zoology) (a) The crop of a bird. (b) The stomach of an animal.

Crawfish Craw"fish` (kra"fĭsh`), Cray"fish` (krā"fĭsh`) , noun ; plural -fishes or -fish . [ Corrupted from Middle English crevis , creves , Old French crevice , F. écrevisse , from Old High German krebiz crab, G. krebs . See Crab . The ending -fish arose from confusion with English fish .] (Zoology) Any crustacean of the family Astacidæ , resembling the lobster, but smaller, and found in fresh waters. Crawfishes are esteemed very delicate food both in Europe and America. The North American species are numerous and mostly belong to the genus Cambarus . The blind crawfish of the Mammoth Cave is Cambarus pellucidus . The common European species is Astacus fluviatilis .

Crawford Craw"ford (kra"fẽrd) noun A Crawford peach; a well-known freestone peach, with yellow flesh, first raised by Mr. William Crawford , of New Jersey.

Crawl Crawl (kral) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crawled (krald); present participle & verbal noun Crawling .] [ Danish kravle , or Icelandic krafla , to paw, scrabble with the hands; akin to Swedish kräla to crawl; confer LG. krabbeln , D. krabbelen to scratch.] 1. To move slowly by drawing the body along the ground, as a worm; to move slowly on hands and knees; to creep.

A worm finds what it searches after only by feeling, as it crawls from one thing to another.
Grew.

2. Hence, to move or advance in a feeble, slow, or timorous manner.

He was hardly able to crawl about the room.
Arbuthnot.

The meanest thing that crawl'd beneath my eyes.
Byron.

3. To advance slowly and furtively; to insinuate one's self; to advance or gain influence by servile or obsequious conduct.

Secretly crawling up the battered walls.
Knolles.

Hath crawled into the favor of the king.
Shak.

Absurd opinions crawl about the world.
South.

4. To have a sensation as of insect creeping over the body; as, the flesh crawls . See Creep , intransitive verb , 7.

Crawl Crawl (kral) noun The act or motion of crawling; slow motion, as of a creeping animal.

Crawl Crawl noun [ Confer Kraal .] A pen or inclosure of stakes and hurdles on the seacoast, for holding fish.

Crawl stroke Crawl stroke (Swimming) A racing stroke, in which the swimmer, lying flat on the water with face submerged, takes alternate overhand arm strokes while moving his legs up and down alternately from the knee.

Crawler Crawl"er (kral"ẽr) noun One who, or that which, crawls; a creeper; a reptile.

Crawly Crawl"y (kral"ȳ) adjective Creepy. [ Colloq.]

Cray Cray (krā), Cray"er (-ẽr) , noun See Crare . [ Obsolete]

Crayfish Cray"fish (krā"fĭsh) noun (Zoology) See Crawfish .

Crayon Cray"on noun [ French, a crayon, a lead pencil ( crayon Conté Conté's pencil, i. e. , one made a black compound invented by Conté), from craie chalk, Latin creta ; said to be, properly, Cretan earth, from Creta the island Crete. Confer Cretaceous .] 1. An implement for drawing, made of clay and plumbago, or of some preparation of chalk, usually sold in small prisms or cylinders.

Let no day pass over you . . . without giving some strokes of the pencil or the crayon .
Dryden.

» The black crayon gives a deeper black than the lead pencil. This and the colored crayons are often called chalks . The red crayon is also called sanguine . See Chalk , and Sanguine .

2. A crayon drawing.

3. (Electricity) A pencil of carbon used in producing electric light.

Crayon board , cardboard with a surface prepared for crayon drawing. -- Crayon drawing , the act or art of drawing with crayons; a drawing made with crayons.

Crayon Cray"on transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crayoned (-?nd); present participle & verbal noun Crayoning .] [ Confer F. crayonner .] To sketch, as with a crayon; to sketch or plan.

He soon afterwards composed that discourse, conformably to the plan which he had crayoned out.
Malone.

Craze Craze (krāz) transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crazed (krāzd); present participle & verbal noun Crazing .] [ Middle English crasen to break, from Scand., perhaps through Old French ; confer Swedish krasa to crackle, slå i kras , to break to pieces, French écraser to crush, from the Scand. Confer Crash .] 1. To break into pieces; to crush; to grind to powder. See Crase .

God, looking forth, will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot wheels.
Milton.

2. To weaken; to impair; to render decrepit. [ Obsolete]

Till length of years,
And sedentary numbness, craze my limbs.
Milton.

3. To derange the intellect of; to render insane.

Any man . . . that is crazed and out of his wits.
Tilloston.

Grief hath crazed my wits.
Shak.

Craze Craze intransitive verb 1. To be crazed, or to act or appear as one that is crazed; to rave; to become insane.

She would weep and he would craze .
Keats.

2. To crack, as the glazing of porcelain or pottery.

Craze Craze noun 1. Craziness; insanity.

2. A strong habitual desire or fancy; a crotchet.

It was quite a craze with him [ Burns] to have his Jean dressed genteelly.
Prof. Wilson.

3. A temporary passion or infatuation, as for same new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; as, the bric-a-brac craze ; the æsthetic craze .

Various crazes concerning health and disease.
W. Pater.

Craze Craze noun (Ceramics) A crack in the glaze or enamel such as is caused by exposure of the pottery to great or irregular heat.

Craze-mill Craze"-mill` (krāz"mĭl`), Craz"ing-mill` (kr?"z?ng-) , noun [ See 1st Craze .] A mill for grinding tin ore.

Crazedness Craz"ed·ness noun A broken state; decrepitude; an impaired state of the intellect.

Crazily Cra"zi·ly (krā"zĭ*lȳ) adverb In a crazy manner.

Craziness Cra"zi·ness noun 1. The state of being broken down or weakened; as, the craziness of a ship, or of the limbs.

2. The state of being broken in mind; imbecility or weakness of intellect; derangement.

Crazing Craz"ing present participle & verbal noun of Craze , v. Hence: noun Fine cracks resulting from shrinkage on the surface of glazed pottery, concrete, or other material. The admired crackle in some Oriental potteries and porcelains is crazing produced in a foreseen and regulated way. In common pottery it is often the result of exposure to undue heat, and the beginning of disintegration.

Crazy Cra"zy (krā"zȳ) adjective [ From Craze .] 1. Characterized by weakness or feebleness; decrepit; broken; falling to decay; shaky; unsafe.

Piles of mean and crazy houses.
Macaulay.

One of great riches, but a crazy constitution.
Addison.

They . . . got a crazy boat to carry them to the island.
Jeffrey.

2. Broken, weakened, or dissordered in intellect; shattered; demented; deranged.

Over moist and crazy brains.
Hudibras.

3. Inordinately desirous; foolishly eager. [ Colloq.]

The girls were crazy to be introduced to him.
R. B. Kimball.

Crazy bone , the bony projection at the end of the elbow ( olecranon ), behind which passes the ulnar nerve; -- so called on account of the curiously painful tingling felt, when, in a particular position, it receives a blow; -- called also funny bone . -- Crazy quilt , a bedquilt made of pieces of silk or other material of various sizes, shapes, and colors, fancifully stitched together without definite plan or arrangement.

Creable Cre"a·ble adjective [ Latin creabilis , from creare to create. See Create .] Capable of being created. [ Obsolete] I. Watts.

Creaght Creaght noun [ Ir. & Gael. graidh , graigh .] A drove or herd. [ Obsolete] Haliwell.

Creaght Creaght intransitive verb To graze. [ Obsolete] Sir. Latin Davies.

Creak Creak (krēk) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Creaked (krēkt); present participle & verbal noun Creaking .] [ Middle English creken , probably of imitative origin; confer E. crack , and . Dutch krieken to crackle, chirp.] To make a prolonged sharp grating or squeaking sound, as by the friction of hard substances; as, shoes creak .

The creaking locusts with my voice conspire.
Dryden.

Doors upon their hinges creaked .
Tennyson.

Creak Creak transitive verb To produce a creaking sound with.

Creaking my shoes on the plain masonry.
Shak.

Creak Creak (krēk) noun The sound produced by anything that creaks; a creaking. Roget.

Creaking Creak"ing noun A harsh grating or squeaking sound, or the act of making such a sound.

Start not at the creaking of the door.
Longfellow.

Cream Cream (krēm) noun [ French crême , perhaps from Late Latin crema cream of milk; confer Latin cremor thick juice or broth, perhaps akin to cremare to burn.] 1. The rich, oily, and yellowish part of milk, which, when the milk stands unagitated, rises, and collects on the surface. It is the part of milk from which butter is obtained.

2. The part of any liquor that rises, and collects on the surface. [ R.]

3. A delicacy of several kinds prepared for the table from cream, etc., or so as to resemble cream.

4. A cosmetic; a creamlike medicinal preparation.

In vain she tries her paste and creams ,
To smooth her skin or hide its seams.
Goldsmith.

5. The best or choicest part of a thing; the quintessence; as, the cream of a jest or story; the cream of a collection of books or pictures.

Welcome, O flower and cream of knights errant.
Shelton.

Bavarian cream , a preparation of gelatin, cream, sugar, and eggs, whipped; -- to be eaten cold. -- Cold cream , an ointment made of white wax, almond oil, rose water, and borax, and used as a salve for the hands and lips. -- Cream cheese , a kind of cheese made from curd from which the cream has not been taken off, or to which cream has been added. -- Cream gauge , an instrument to test milk, being usually a graduated glass tube in which the milk is placed for the cream to rise. -- Cream nut , the Brazil nut. -- Cream of lime . (a) A scum of calcium carbonate which forms on a solution of milk of lime from the carbon dioxide of the air. (b) A thick creamy emulsion of lime in water. -- Cream of tartar (Chemistry) , purified tartar or argol; so called because of the crust of crystals which forms on the surface of the liquor in the process of purification by recrystallization. It is a white crystalline substance, with a gritty acid taste, and is used very largely as an ingredient of baking powders; -- called also potassium bitartrate , acid potassium tartrate , etc.

Cream Cream transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Creamed (kr?md); present participle & verbal noun Creaming .] 1. To skim, or take off by skimming, as cream.

2. To take off the best or choicest part of.

3. To furnish with, or as with, cream.

Creaming the fragrant cups.
Mrs. Whitney.

To cream butter (Cooking) , to rub, stir, or beat, butter till it is of a light creamy consistency.

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