Dictionary
An American Dictionary of the English Language
Revised and enlarged (Goodrich & Porter)
Springfield, Mass. · G. & C. Merriam · 1865
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Look up a word as the writers of the time used it.
Crĕs'çent, a. p. 311Increasing; growing. Nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews and bulk. Shak. Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns. Milton. O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set.…Crĕs'çent, n. p. 311The increasing moon; the moon in her first quarter, or when defined by a concave and convex edge. Dryden. 2. (a.) The figure or likeness of the new moon, borne in the Turkish flag or national…Crés'cent, v. t. p. 312To form into, or ornament with, a crescent, or something of crescent form. [Obs.]Cres-cént'ic, a. p. 312Crescent-shaped. “Crescentic lobes.” R. Owen.Crés'cive, a. p. 312Increasing; growing. “Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.” Shak.Crēss, n. p. 312(Bot.) A plant of various species, chiefly of the family of Cruciferæ. The leaves of the true kinds have a moderately pungent taste, and are used as a salad and anti-scorbutic. She, wretched matron…Cres-sēlle', n. p. 312(Eccl.) A wooden instrument used as a substitute for a bell, in the Roman Catholic church, during passion week.Crēs'set, n. p. 312An open lamp, filled with combustible material, placed on a beacon, lighthouse, &c., or carried on a pole; any great light. Many a row Of starry lamps and blazing cressets fed With naphtha and…Crēss'-rōck'et, n. p. 312(Bot.) A plant of the order Cruciferæ; Vella pseudocytisus.Crēst, n. p. 312A tuft, or other natural ornament, growing on an animal’s head; the comb of a cock; the swelling on the head of a serpent, &c. When the viper issues from the brake, Be quick; with stones, and brands…Crēst, v. t. p. 312To furnish or adorn with a crest; to serve as a crest for. His legs bestrid the ocean, his reared arm Crested the world. Shak. ’Mid groves of clouds that crest the mountain’s brow. Wordsworth. 2. To…Crēst'ed, p. a. p. 312Having a crest. 2. (Bot.) Bearing any elevated appendage like a crest. Gray.Crēst'ed-dīv'er, n. p. 312(Ornith.) A water fowl of large size, having a tuft or crest upon its head, whence the former part of name; the Podiceps cristatus.Crēst'-fallĕn, a. p. 312With lowered front or hanging head; hence, with broken courage and pride; dispirited; dejected; cowed. 2. (Man.) Having the crest hanging to one side;—said of a horse.Crēst'less, a. p. 312Without a crest; not dignified with coat-armor; of low birth.Crēst'-ma-rīne', n. p. 312(Bot.) A plant (Crithmum maritimum);—called also samphire.Crēst'-tile, n. p. 312(Arch.) A tile of peculiar form, used to cover a ridge upon a roof, fitting upon it like a saddle.Crĕs'well, n. p. 312The broad edge or verge of the sole of a shoe. Bailey.Cre-tā'ceoŭs, a. p. 312Having the qualities of chalk; abounding with chalk; as, cretaceous rocks and formations. See CHALK.Cre-tā'ceoŭs-ly, adv. p. 312In a manner like that of chalk; as chalk.Crē'tan, a. p. 312(Geog.) Pertaining to Crete, or Candia.Crē'tan, n. p. 312(Geog.) A native or inhabitant of Crete or Candia. [Written also Crete and Cretian.]Crē'tā-tēd, a. p. 312Rubbed with chalk. [Obs.] Bailey.Crēte, n. p. 312(Geog.) A Cretan. See CRETAN.Crē'tian, a. & n. p. 312Same as CRETAN.Crē'tic, n. p. 312(Gr. & Lat. Pros.) A poetic foot, composed of one short syllable between two long syllables.Crĕt'i-cĭsm, n. p. 312A falsehood; lying; cretism.Crē'tin, n. p. 312(Med.) An idiot of a certain kind, frequent in the low valleys of the Alps, generally afflicted also with goiter.Crē'tin-ism, n. p. 312The state or disease of a cretin; idiocy; goiter.Crē'tism, n. p. 312A Cretan practice; a falsehood.Crē'tōse, a. p. 312Chalky; cretaceous. [Obs.]Creux, n. p. 312(Sculp.) Any thing engraved or sculptured by excavation or hollowing out; an intaglio; the reverse of relief.Cre-vāsse′, n. p. 312A deep crevice or split; one of the clefts by which the mass of a glacier is divided. 2. A breach in the levee or embankment of a river. [U. S.]Crēv'et, n. p. 312A crucible or melting pot used by goldsmiths; a cruset.Crēv'īce, n. p. 312A narrow opening resulting from a split or crack; or the separation of a junction; a cleft; a fissure; a rent. The mouse, Behind the moldering wainscot, shrieked, Or from the crevice peered about.…Crēv'īce, v. t. p. 312To crack; to flaw. [Rare.] “To crevice the wall.” Wotton.Crēv'is, n. p. 312The craw-fish. [Prov. Eng.]Crew, n. p. 312A company of people associated together; a throng; an assemblage. There a noble crew Of lords and ladies stood on every side. Spenser. Faithful to whom? to thy rebellious crew? Army of friends, fit…Crew'el, n. p. 312Worsted yarn slackly twisted.Crew'et, n. p. 312See CRUET.Crĭb, n. p. 312The manger or rack of a stable; a feeding-place. The steer and lion at one crib shall meet. Pope. 2. A stall for oxen or other cattle. 3. A small inclosed bedstead for a child. 4. A box or bin for…Crib, v. t. p. 312To shut or confine in a narrow habitation; to cage; to confine; to cramp. “If only the vital energy be not cribbed or cramped.” I. Taylor. During my winters and springs I am . . . cribbed and…Crib, v. i. p. 312To crowd together, or to be confined, as in a crib.Crib′bage, n. p. 312A game at cards, in which the dealer makes up a third hand for himself partly out of the hand of his opponent.Crib′bage-bōard, n. p. 312A board with holes, used by cribbage-players, to score their game with pegs.Crib'bing or Crib'-bit'ing, n. p. 312(Far.) A vicious trick or habit of horses, consisting in laying hold of the manger with their teeth, and at the same time drawing in the breath with a peculiar noise.Crib'-bit'er, n. p. 312A horse given to crib-biting; hence, an inveterate grumbler. [Cant.]Crib'ble, n. p. 312A coarse sieve or screen. 2. Coarse flour or meal. [Obs.] Johnson.Crib'ble, v. t. p. 312To cause to pass through a sieve or riddle; to sift.Crib'ble, a. p. 312Coarse. [Obs.] Huloet.Crib'rate or Crib'rōse, a. p. 312(Bot. & Anat.) Perforated like a sieve.Cri-brā'tion, n. p. 312(Med.) The act or process of separating the finer parts of drugs from the coarser. [Obs.] Dunglison.Crib'ri-fōrm, a. p. 312Resembling a sieve or riddle; having the form of a sieve; pierced with holes; as, the cribriform plate of the ethmoid bone; a cribriform compress. Dunglison.Cri-cē'tus, n. p. 312(Zōol.) A genus of rodent animals, with teeth resembling those of a rat; the hamster.Crich'ton-ite, n. p. 312(Min.) A variety of ilmenite, crystallizing in acute rhombohedrons; titanate of iron. Dana.Crick, n. p. 312The creaking of a door. [Obs.] 2. [Cf. A-S. cric, crice, cryc, crycc, a crooked staff.] A spasmodic and acutely painful affection of some part of the body, as of the neck or back, rendering it…Crick'et, n. p. 312An insect of the genus Gryllus and order Orthoptera, characterized by a chirping note. The common cricket of England is the Gryllus domesticus.Crick'et, n. p. 312A game much played in England and America with a bat, ball, and wicket, the players being arranged in two contesting parties. 2. A low stool.Crick'et, v. i. p. 312To play at cricket. They boated and they cricketed. Tennyson.Crick'et-bird, n. p. 312(Ornith.) A kind of bird, Silvia locustella; the grasshopper warbler.