Crocketed Crock"et·ed adjective (Architecture) Ornamented with crockets.

Crocketing Crock"et·ing noun (Architecture) Ornamentation with crockets. Ruskin.

Crocky Crock"y adjective [ From Crock soot.] Smutty.

Crocodile Croc"o·dile noun [ Latin crocodilus , Greek ...............: confer French crocodile . Confer Cookatrice .] 1. (Zoology) A large reptile of the genus Crocodilus , of several species. They grow to the length of sixteen or eighteen feet, and inhabit the large rivers of Africa, Asia, and America. The eggs, laid in the sand, are hatched by the sun's heat. The best known species is that of the Nile ( C. vulgaris , or C. Niloticus ). The Florida crocodile ( C. Americanus ) is much less common than the alligator and has longer jaws. The name is also sometimes applied to the species of other related genera, as the gavial and the alligator.

2. (Logic) A fallacious dilemma, mythically supposed to have been first used by a crocodile.

Crocodile bird (Zoology) , an African plover ( Pluvianus ægypticus ) which alights upon the crocodile and devours its insect parasites, even entering its open mouth (according to reliable writers) in pursuit of files, etc.; -- called also Nile bird . It is the trochilos of ancient writers. -- Crocodile tears , false or affected tears; hypocritical sorrow; -- derived from the fiction of old travelers, that crocodiles shed tears over their prey.

Crocodilia Croc`o·dil"i·a noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin crocodilus crocodile.] (Zoology) An order of reptiles including the crocodiles, gavials, alligators, and many extinct kinds.

Crocodilian Croc`o·dil"i·an adjective (Zoology) Like, or pertaining to, the crocodile; characteristic of the crocodile. -- noun One of the Crocodilia.

Crocodility Croc`o·dil"i·ty noun (Logic) A caption or sophistical mode of arguing. [ R.]

Crocoisite Cro"cois·ite noun [ Confer French croco...se .] (Min.) Same as Crocoite .

Crocoite Cro"co·ite noun [ Greek ............ saffron.] (Min.) Lead chromate occuring in crystals of a bright hyacinth red color; -- called also red lead ore .

Croconate Cro"con·ate noun (Chemistry) A salt formed by the union of croconic acid with a base.

Croconic Cro·con"ic adjective [ Greek ............ saffron.] 1. Of, pertaining to, or resembling saffron; having the color of saffron; as, croconic acid.

2. Pertaining to, or derived from, croconic acid.

Croconic acid (Chemistry) , a yellow crystalline substance, C ₅ O ₃ (OH) ₂ , obtained from potassium carboxide, rhodizonic acid, and various phenol and quinone derivatives of benzene, and forming yellow or orange colored salts.

Crocose Cro"cose (krō"kōs) noun [ Greek kro`kos saffron.] (Chemistry) A white crystalline sugar, metameric with glucose, obtained from the coloring matter of saffron. [ Written also crokose .]

Crocus Cro"cus (krō"kŭs) noun [ Latin , saffron, from Greek kro`kos ; confer Hebrew karkōm , Arabic kurkum , Sanskrit ku&ndot;kuma .] 1. (Botany) A genus of iridaceous plants, with pretty blossoms rising separately from the bulb or corm. C. vernus is one of the earliest of spring-blooming flowers; C. sativus produces the saffron, and blossoms in the autumn.

2. (Chemistry) A deep yellow powder; the oxide of some metal calcined to a red or deep yellow color; esp., the oxide of iron ( Crocus of Mars or colcothar ) thus produced from salts of iron, and used as a polishing powder.

Crocus of Venus (Old Chem.) , oxide of copper.

Croft Croft (krŏft; 115) noun [ Anglo-Saxon croft ; akin to Dutch kroft hillock; confer Gael. croit hump, croft.] A small, inclosed field, adjoining a house; a small farm.

A few small crofts of stone-encumbered ground.
Wordsworth.

Crofter Croft"er noun One who rents and tills a small farm or holding; as, the crofters of Scotland.

Crofting Croft"ing noun 1. Croftland. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

2. (Textile Manuf.) Exposing linen to the sun, on the grass, in the process of bleaching.

Croftland Croft"land noun Land of superior quality, on which successive crops are raised. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

Crofton system Crof"ton sys"tem [ After Sir Walter Crofton , Irish penologist.] (Penology) A system of prison discipline employing for consecutive periods cellular confinement, associated imprisonment under the mark system, restraint intermediate between imprisonment and freedom, and liberation on ticket of leave.

Crois Crois (krois). noun [ Old French ] See Cross , noun [ Obsolete]

Croisade Croi·sade" noun [ French criosade . See Crusade .] A holy war; a crusade. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Croise Croise (krois) noun [ French croisé crusader, from Old French crois , French croix , cross. See Cross .] 1. A pilgrim bearing or wearing a cross. [ Obsolete]

2. A crusader. [ Obsolete]

The conquests of the croises extending over Palestine.
Burke.

Croissanté Crois`san`té" adjective [ French croissant , adj. & noun , crescent.] (Her.) Terminated with crescents; -- said of a cross the ends of which are so terminated.

Croker Cro"ker (krō"kẽr) noun [ Greek kro`kos saffron.] A cultivator of saffron; a dealer in saffron. [ Obsolete] Holinshed.

Croma Cro"ma (krō"mȧ) noun [ Italian ] (Mus.) A quaver. [ Obsolete]

Cromlech Crom"lech (krŏm"lĕk) noun [ W. cromlech ; crom bending or bent, concave + llech a flat stone; akin to Ir. cromleac .] (Archæol.) A monument of rough stones composed of one or more large ones supported in a horizontal position upon others. They are found chiefly in countries inhabited by the ancient Celts, and are of a period anterior to the introduction of Christianity into these countries.

Cromorna Cro·mor"na noun [ French cromorne (cf. Italian cromorno 0, from German krummhorn crooked horn, cornet, an organ pipe turned like a trumpet; krumm crooked + horn horn.] (Mus.) A certain reed stop in the organ, of a quality of tone resembling that of the oboe. [ Corruptly written cromona .]

Crone Crone (krōn) noun [ OD. kronie , karonie , an old sheep, Old French carogne , F. charogne , carrion (also F. carogne illnatured woman.). See Carrion , and Crony .] 1. An old ewe. [ Obsolete] Tusser.

2. An old woman; -- usually in contempt.

But still the crone was constant to her note.
Dryden.

3. An old man; especially, a man who talks and acts like an old woman. [ R.]

The old crone [ a negro man] lived in a hovel, . . . which his master had given him.
W. Irving.

A few old battered crones of office.
Beaconsfield.

Cronel Cro"nel noun [ Confer Coronel spearhead, Crown .] The iron head of a tilting spear.

Cronet Cro"net noun [ Confer Coronet , Crownet .] The coronet of a horse.

Cronian Cro"ni·an adjective [ Greek ............ Saturnian, from ............ Saturn.] Saturnian; -- applied to the North Polar Sea. [ R.] Milton.

Cronstedtite Cron"stedt·ite noun (Min.) A mineral consisting principally of silicate of iron, and crystallizing in hexagonal prisms with perfect basal cleavage; -- so named from the Swedish mineralogist Cronstedt .

Crony Cro"ny noun ; plural Cronies (-n...z). [ Orig., an old woman. See Crone .] 1. A crone. [ Obsolete] "Marry not an old crony ." Burton.

2. An intimate companion; a familiar frend . [ Colloq.]

He soon found his former cronies , though all rather the worse for the wear and tear of time.
W. Irving.

Croodle Croo"dle intransitive verb [ Confer Cruddle , Crudle .] 1. To cower or cuddle together, as from fear or cold; to lie close and snug together, as pigs in straw. [ Prov. Eng.] Wright. Forby.

A dove to fly home her nest and croodle there.
C. Kingsley.

2. To fawn or coax. [ Obsolete]

3. To coo. [ Scot.]

Crook Crook (krok) noun [ Middle English crok ; akin to Icelandic krokr hook, bend, SW. krok , Danish krog , OD. krooke ; or confer Gael. crocan crook, hook, W. crwca crooked. Confer Crosier , Crotchet , Crutch , Encroach .] 1. A bend, turn, or curve; curvature; flexure.

Through lanes, and crooks , and darkness.
Phaer.

2. Any implement having a bent or crooked end. Especially: (a) The staff used by a shepherd, the hook of which serves to hold a runaway sheep. (b) A bishop's staff of office. Confer Pastoral staff .

He left his crook , he left his flocks .
Prior.

3. A pothook. "As black as the crook ." Sir W. Scott.

4. An artifice; trick; tricky device; subterfuge.

For all yuor brags, hooks, and crooks .
Cranmer.

5. (Mus.) A small tube, usually curved, applied to a trumpet, horn, etc., to change its pitch or key.

6. A person given to fraudulent practices; an accomplice of thieves, forgers, etc. [ Cant, U.S.]

By hook or by crook , in some way or other; by fair means or foul.

Crook Crook transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crooked (kr??kt); present participle & verbal noun Crooking .] [ Middle English croken ; confer Swedish kr...ka , Danish kr...ge . See Crook, noun ] 1. To turn from a straight line; to bend; to curve.

Crook the pregnant hinges of the knee.
Shak.

2. To turn from the path of rectitude; to pervert; to misapply; to twist. [ Archaic]

There is no one thing that crooks youth more than such unlawfull games.
Ascham.

What soever affairs pass such a man's hands, he crooketh them to his own ends.
Bacon.

Crook Crook intransitive verb To bend; to curve; to wind; to have a curvature. " The port . . . crooketh like a bow." Phaer.

Their shoes and pattens are snouted, and piked more than a finger long, crooking upwards.
Camden.

Crookback Crook"back` (krok"băk`) noun A crooked back; one who has a crooked or deformed back; a hunchback.

Crookback Crook"back` adjective Hunched. Shak.

Crookbill Crook"bill` noun (Zoöl) A New Zealand plover ( Anarhynchus frontalis ), remarkable for having the end of the beak abruptly bent to the right.

Crooked Crook"ed adjective 1. Characterized by a crook or curve; not straight; turning; bent; twisted; deformed. " Crooked paths." Locke.

he is deformed, crooked , old, and sere.
Shak.

2. Not straightforward; deviating from rectitude; distorted from the right.

They are a perverse and crooked generation.
Deut. xxxii. 5.

3. False; dishonest; fraudulent; as, crooked dealings.

Crooked whisky , whisky on which the payment of duty has been fraudulently evaded. [ Slang, U.S.] Barlett.

Crookedly Crook"ed·ly adverb In a curved or crooked manner; in a perverse or untoward manner.

Crookedness Crook"ed·ness noun The condition or quality of being crooked; hence, deformity of body or of mind; deviation from moral rectitude; perverseness.

Crooken Crook"en transitive verb To make crooked. [ Obsolete]

Crookes space Crookes space (kroks). [ After Sir William Crookes , English chemist, who first described it.] (Physics) The dark space within the negative-pole glow at the cathode of a vacuum tube, observed only when the pressure is low enough to give a striated discharge; -- called also Crookes layer .

Crookes tube Crookes" tube` (kr??ks" t?b`). (Physics ) A vacuum tube in which the exhaustion is carried to a very high degree, with the production of a distinct class of effects; -- so called from W. Crookes who introduced it.

Crookneck Crook"neck` noun Either of two varieties of squash, distinguished by their tapering, recurved necks. The summer crookneck is botanically a variety of the pumpkin ( Cucurbita pepo ) and matures early in the season. It is pale yellow in color, with warty excrescences. The winter crookneck belongs to a distinct species ( C. moschata ) and is smooth and often striped. [ U. S.]

Croon Croon (krōn) intransitive verb [ Middle English croinen , confer D. kreunen to moan. √24.] 1. To make a continuous hollow moan, as cattle do when in pain. [ Scot.] Jamieson.

2. To hum or sing in a low tone; to murmur softly.

Here an old grandmother was crooning over a sick child, and rocking it to and fro.
Dickens.

Croon Croon transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Crooned (krōnd); present participle & verbal noun Crooning .] 1. To sing in a low tone, as if to one's self; to hum.

Hearing such stanzas crooned in her praise.
C. Bronté.

2. To soothe by singing softly.

The fragment of the childish hymn with which he sung and crooned himself asleep.
Dickens.

Croon Croon noun 1. A low, continued moan; a murmur.

2. A low singing; a plain, artless melody.

Crop Crop (krŏp) noun [ Middle English crop , croppe , craw, top of a plant, harvest, Anglo-Saxon crop , cropp , craw, top, bunch, ear of corn; akin to Dutch krop craw, German kropf , Icelandic kroppr hump or bunch on the body, body; but confer also W. cropa , croppa , crop or craw of a bird, Ir. & Gael. sgroban . Confer Croup , Crupper , Croup .] 1. The pouchlike enlargement of the gullet of birds, serving as a receptacle for food; the craw.

2. The top, end, or highest part of anything, especially of a plant or tree. [ Obsolete] " Crop and root." Chaucer.

3. That which is cropped, cut, or gathered from a single felld, or of a single kind of grain or fruit, or in a single season; especially, the product of what is planted in the earth; fruit; harvest.

Lab'ring the soil, and reaping plenteous crop ,
Corn, wine, and oil.
Milton.

4. Grain or other product of the field while standing.

5. Anything cut off or gathered.

Guiltless of steel, and from the razor free,
It falls a plenteous crop reserved for thee.
Dryden.

6. Hair cut close or short, or the act or style of so cutting; as, a convict's crop .

7. (Architecture) A projecting ornament in carved stone. Specifically, a finial. [ Obsolete]

8. (Mining.) (a) Tin ore prepared for smelting. (b) Outcrop of a vein or seam at the surface. Knight.

9. A riding whip with a loop instead of a lash.

Neck and crop , altogether; roughly and at once. [ Colloq.]

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