Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
CROWD — CRYPTOGRAPHY
CROWD, CROWTH, n. An instrument of music with six strings; a kind of violin.
CROWD, n. [See Crew.]
1. Properly, a collection; a number of things collected, or closely pressed together.
2. A number of persons congregated and pressed together, or collected into a close body without order; a throng. Hence,
3. A multitude; a great number collected.
4. A number of things near together; a number promiscuously assembled or lying near each other; as a crowd of isles in the Egean Sea.
5. The lower orders of people; the populace; the vulgar.
CROWD, v.t.
1. To press; to urge; to drive together.
2. To fill by pressing numbers together without order; as, to crowd a room with people; to crowd the memory with ideas.
3. To fill to excess.
Volumes of reports crowd a lawyers library.
4. To encumber by multitudes.
5. To urge; to press by solicitation; to dun.
6. In seamanship, to crowd sail, is to carry an extraordinary force of sail, with a view to accelerate the course of a ship, as in chasing or escaping from an enemy; to carry a press of sail.
CROWD, v.i.
1. To press in numbers; as, the multitude crowded through the gate or into the room.
2. To press; to urge forward; as, the man crowded into the room.
3. To swarm or be numerous.
CROWDED, pp. Collected and pressed; pressed together; urged; driven; filled by a promiscuous multitude.
CROWDER, n. A fiddler; one who plays on a crowd.
CROWDING, ppr. Pressing together; pushing; thrusting; driving; assembling in a promiscuous multitude; filling; urging.
CROWN, n. [G., L.]
1. An ornament worn on the head by kings and sovereign princes, as a badge of imperial or regal power and dignity. Figuratively, regal power; royalty; kingly government, or executive authority.
2. A wreath or garland.
3. Honorary distinction; reward.
They do it to obtain a corruptible crown; we, an incorruptible. 1 Corinthians 9:25.
4. Honor; splendor; dignity.
The crown has fallen from our heads. Lamentations 5:16; Philippians 4:1.
A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband. Proverbs 12:4.
5. The top of the head; the top of a mountain or other elevated object. The end of an anchor, or the point from which the arms proceed.
6. The part of a hat which covers the top of the head.
7. A coin anciently stamped with the figure of a crown. The English crown is five shillings sterling. The French crown is a hundred and nine cents. Other coins bear the same name.
8. Completion; accomplishment.
9. Clerical tonsure in a circular form; a little circle shaved on the top of the head, as a mark of ecclesiastical office or distinction.
10. Among jewelers, the upper work of a rose diamond.
11. In botany, an appendage to the top of a seed, which serves to bear it in the wind.
CROWN, v.t.
1. To invest with a crown or regal ornament. Hence, to invest with regal dignity and power.
2. To cover, as with a crown; to cover the top.
And peaceful olives crowned his hoary head.
3. To honor; to dignify; to adorn.
Thou hast crowned him with glory and honor. Psalm 8:5.
4. To reward; to bestow an honorary reward or distinction on; as the victor crowned with laurel.
5. To reward; to recompense.
Shell crown a grateful and a constant flame.
6. To terminate or finish; to complete; to perfect.
7. To terminate and reward; as, our efforts were crowned with success.
CROWNED, pp. Invested with a crown, or with regal power and dignity; honored; dignified; rewarded with a crown, wreath, garland or distinction; recompensed; terminated; completed; perfected.
CROWNER, n. He or that which crowns or completes.
CROWNET, n. A coronet, which see. Shakespeare has used it for chief end or last purpose; but this sense is singular.
CROWN-GLASS, n. The finest sort of English window-glass.
CROWN-IMPERIAL, n. A plant of the genus Fritillaria, having a beautiful flower.
CROWNING, ppr. Investing with a crown, or with royalty or supreme power; honoring with a wreath or with distinction; adorning; rewarding; finishing; perfecting.
CROWNING, n.
1. In architecture, the finishing of a member or any ornamental work.
2. In marine language, the finishing part of a knot, or interweaving of the strands.
CROWN-OFFICE, n. In England, an office belonging to the court of Kings Bench, of which the kings coroner or attorney is commonly master, and in which the attorney general and clerk exhibit informations for crimes and misdemeanors.
CROWN-POST, n. In building, a post which stands upright in the middle, between two principal rafters.
CROWN-SCAB, n. A scab formed round the corners of a horses hoof, a cancerous and painful sore.
CROWN-THISTLE, n. A flower.
CROWN-WHEEL, n. In a watch, the upper wheel next the balance, which drives the balance, and in royal pendulums, is called the swing-wheel.
CROWN-WORK, n. In fortification, an outwork running into the field, consisting of two demi-bastions at the extremes and an entire bastion int he middle, with curtains. It is designed to gain some hill or advantageous post, and cover the other works.
CROYLSTONE, n. Crystalized cauk, in which the crystals are small.
CRUCIAL, a. [L., a cross.] In surgery, transverse; passing across; intersecting; in form of a cross; as crucial incision.
CRUCIAN, n. A short, thick, broad fish, of a deep yellow color.
CRUCIATE, v.t. [L., to torture, a cross.] To torture; to torment; to afflict with extreme pain or distress; but he verb is seldom used. [See Excruciate.]
CRUCIATE, a. Tormented. [Little used.]
CRUCIATION, n. The act of torturing; torment. [Little used.]
CRUCIBLE, n.
1. A chemical vessel or melting pot, made of earth, and so tempered and baked, as to endure extreme heat without melting. It is used for melting ores, metals, etc.
2. A hollow place at the bottom of a chemical furnace.
CRUCIFEROUS, a. [L., a cross, and to bear.] Bearing the cross.
CRUCIFIER, n. [See Crucify.] A person who crucifies; one who puts another to death on a cross.
CRUCIFIX, n. [L., to fix on a cross; to fix.]
1. A cross on which the body of Christ is fastened in effigy.
2. A representation, in painting or statuary, of our Lord fastened to the cross.
3. Figuratively, the religion of Christ. [Little used.]
CRUCIFIXION, n. [See Crucifix.] The nailing or fastening of a person to a cross, for the purpose of putting him to death; the act or punishment of putting a criminal to death by nailing him to a cross.
CRUCIFORM, a. [L., a cross, and form.] Cross-shaped.
In botany, consisting of four equal petals, disposed int he form of a cross.
CRUCIFY, v.t. [L., cross, to fix.]
1. To nail to a cross; to put to death by nailing the hands and feet to a cross or gibbet, sometimes anciently, by fastening a criminal to a tree, with cords.
But they cried, crucify him, crucify him. Luke 23:21.
2. In scriptural language, to subdue; to mortify; to destroy the power or ruling influence of.
They that are Christs have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts. Galatians 5:24.
3. To reject and despise.
They crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh. Hebrews 6:6.
To be crucified with Christ, is to become dead to the law and to sin, and to have indwelling corruption subdued. Galatians 2:20 and Galatians 6:14.
4. To vex or torment. [Not used.]
CRUCIFYING, ppr. Putting to death on a cross or gibbet; subduing; destroying the life and power of.
CRUD, n. Curd. [See Crud, the usual orthography.]
CRUDE, a. [L. G.]
1. Raw; not cooked or prepared by fire or heat; in its natural state; undressed; as crude flesh; crude meat. In this sense, raw is more generally used.
2. Not changed from its natural state; not altered or prepared by any artificial process; as crude salt; crude alum.
3. Rough; harsh; unripe; not mellowed by air or other means; as crude juice.
4. Unconcocted; not well digested in the stomach.
5. Not brought to perfection; unfinished; immature; as the crude materials of the earth.
6. Having indigested notions.
7. Indigested; not matured; not well formed, arranged, or prepared in the intellect; as, crude notions; a crude plan; a crude theory.
CRUDELY, adv. Without due preparation; without form or arrangement; without maturity or digestion.
CRUDENESS, n.
1. Rawness; unripeness; an undigested or unprepared state; as the crudeness of flesh or plants, or of any body in its natural state.
2. A state of being unformed, or indigested; immatureness; as the crudeness of a theory.
CRUDITY, n. [L.] Rawness; crudeness. Among physicians, undigested substances in the stomach; or unconcocted humors, not well prepared for expulsion; excrements. In the latter senses, it admits of the plural.
CRUDLE, v.t. To coagulate. But this word is generally written curdle, which see.
CRUDY, a.
1. Concreted; coagulated. [Not in use. See Curd.]
2. Raw; chill. [Not used. See Crude.]
CRUEL, a. [L. See Crude and Rude.]
1. Disposed to give pain to others, in body or mind; willing or pleased to torment, vex or afflict; inhuman; destitute of pity, compassion or kindness; fierce; ferocious; savage; barbarous; hardhearted; applied to persons or their dispositions.
They are cruel, and have no mercy. Jeremiah 6:23.
2. Inhuman; barbarous; savage; causing pain, grief or distress; exerted in tormenting, vexing or afflicting.
Cursed be their wrath, for it was cruel. Genesis 49:7.
The tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. Proverbs 12:10.
Others had trials of cruel mockings. Hebrews 11:36.
CRUELLY, adv.
1. In a cruel manner; with cruelty; inhumanly; barbarously.
Because he cruelly oppressed, he shall die in his iniquity. Ezekiel 18:18.
2. Painfully; with severe pain, or torture; as, an instrument may cut the flesh most cruelly.
CRUELNESS, n. Inhumanity; cruelty.
CRUELTY, n. [L.]
1. Inhumanity; a savage or barbarous disposition or temper, which is gratified in giving unnecessary pain or distress to others; barbarity; applied to persons; as the cruelty of savages; the cruelty and envy of the people.
2. Barbarous deed; any act of a human being which inflicts unnecessary pain; any act intended to torment, vex or afflict, or which actually torments or afflicts, without necessity; wrong; injustice; oppression.
With force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. Ezekiel 34:4.
CRUENTATE, a. [L.] Smeared with blood. [Little used.]
CRUET, n. [See Cruse.] A vial or small glass bottle, for holding vinegar, oil, etc.
CRUISE, n. [See Cruse.]
CRUISE, v.i. s as z. [See Cross.] To sail back and forth, or to rove on the ocean in search of an enemys ships for capture, or for protecting commerce; or to rove for plunder as a pirate. The admiral cruised between the Bahama isles and Cuba. We cruised off Cape Finisterre. A pirate was cruising in the gulf of Mexico.
CRUISE, n. A voyage made in crossing courses; a sailing to and fro in search of an enemys ships, or by a pirate in search of plunder.
CRUISER, n. A person or a ship that cruises; usually, an armed ship that sails to and fro for capturing an enemys ships, for protecting the commerce of the country, or for plunder.
CRUISING, ppr. Sailing for the capture of an enemys ships, or for protecting commerce, or for plunder as a pirate.
CRUMB, n. [G.] A small fragment or piece; usually, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off.
Lazarus, desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table. Luke 16:21.
CRUMBLE, v.t. [G.] To break into small pieces; to divide into minute parts.
CRUMBLE, v.i.
1. To fall into small pieces; to break or part into small fragments.
I a stone is brittle, it will crumble into gravel.
2. To fall into decay; to perish; as, our flesh shall crumble into dust.
CRUMBLED, pp. Broken or parted into small pieces.
CRUMBLING, ppr. Breaking into small fragments; falling into small pieces; decaying.
CRUMENAL, n. [L.] A purse. [Not used.]
CRUMMY, a. Full of crums; soft.
CRUMP, a. [G. Crump, rump, rumple, crumple, crimple, are doubtless of one family.] Crooked; as crump-shouldered.
CRUMPET, n. A soft cake.
CRUMPLE, v.i. [from crump. See Rumple, the same word without a prefix.] To draw or press into wrinkles or folds; to rumple.
CRUMPLE, v.i. To contract; to shrink.
CRUMPLED, pp. Drawn or pressed into wrinkles.
CRUMPLING, ppr. Drawing or pressing into wrinkles.
CRUMPLING, n. A small degenerate apple.
CRUNK, CRUNKLE, v.i. To cry like a crane. [Not used.]
CRUOR, n. [L.] Gore; coagulated blood.
CRUP, CROUP, n. The buttocks.
CRUP, a. Short; brittle. [Not in use.]
CRUPPER, n. [See Croup.]
1. In the manege, the buttocks of a horse; the rump.
2. A strap of leather which is buckled to a saddle, and passing under a horses tail, prevents the saddle from being cast forward onto the horses neck.
CRUPPER, v.t. To put a crupper on; as, to crupper a horse.
CRURAL, a. [L., the leg.] Belonging to the leg; as the crural artery, which conveys blood to the legs, and the crural vein, which returns it.
CRUSADE, n. [L.] A military expedition undertaken by Christians, for the recovery of the Holy Land, the scene of our Saviors life and sufferings, from the power of infidels or Mohammedans. Several of these expeditions were carried on from Europe, under the banner of the cross, from which the name originated.
CRUSADE, n. A Portuguese coin stamped with a cross.
CRUSADER, n. A person engaged in a crusade.
CRUSE, n. [See Crucible.] A small cup.
Take with thee a cruse of honey. 1 Kings 14:3.
In New England, it is used chiefly or wholly for a small bottle or vial for vinegar, called a vinegar-cruse.
CRUSET, n. [See Crucible.] A goldsmiths crucible or melting pot.
CRUSH, v.t.
1. To press and bruise between two hard bodies; to squeeze, so as to force a thing out of its natural shape; to bruise by pressure.
The ass--crushed Balaams foot against the wall. Numbers 22:25.
To crush grapes or apples, is to squeeze them till bruised and broken, so that the juice escapes. Hence, to crush out, is to force out by pressure.
2. To press with violence; to force together into a mass.
3. To overwhelm by pressure; to beat or force down, by an incumbent weight, with breaking or bruising; as, the man was crushed by the fall of a tree.
To crush the pillars which the pile sustain.
Who are crushed before the moth. Job 4:19.
4. To overwhelm by power; to subdue; to conquer beyond resistance; as, to crush ones enemies; to crush a rebellion.
5. To oppress grievously.
Thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed always. Deuteronomy 28:33.
6. To bruise and break into fine particles by beating or grinding; to comminute.
CRUSH, v.i. To be pressed into a smaller compass by external weight or force.
CRUSH, n. A violent collision, or rushing together, which breaks or bruises the bodies; or a fall that breaks or bruises into a confused mass; as the crush of a large tree, or of a building.
The wrecks of matter, and the crush of worlds.
CRUSHED, pp. Pressed or squeezed so as to break or bruise; overwhelmed or subdued by power; broken or bruised by a fall; grievously oppressed; broken or bruised to powder; comminuted.
CRUSHING, ppr. Pressing or squeezing into a mass, or until broken or bruised; overwhelming; subduing by force; oppressing; comminuting.
CRUST, n. [L., G.]
1. An external coat or covering of a thing, which is hard or harder than the internal substance; as the crust of bread; the crust of snow; the crust of dross; the crust of a pie.
2. A piece of crust; a waste piece of bread.
3. A shell, as the hard covering of a crab and some other animals.
4. A scab.
5. The superficial substances of the earth are, in geology, called its crust.
CRUST, v.t.
1. To cover with a hard case or coat; to spread over the surface a substance harder than the matter covered; to incrust; as, to crust a thing with clay; to crust cake with sugar; crusted with bark.
2. To cover with concretions.
CRUST, v.i. To gather or contract into a hard covering; to concrete or freeze, as superficial matter.
CRUSTACEOLOGY. [See Crustalogy.]
CRUSTACEOUS, a. [L.] Pertaining to crust; like crust; of the nature of crust or shell. Crustaceous animals, or Crustacea, have a crust or shell composed of several jointed pieces, and in their external form have a great resemblance to insects; but in their internal structure and economy, they are quite different. They were arranged by Linne, in the same class with the insects, but now form a class by themselves. They include the crab, lobster, shrimp, etc.
CRUSTACEOUSNESS, n. The quality of having a soft and jointed shell.
CRUSTALOGICAL, a. [See Crustalogy.] Pertaining to curstalogy.
CRUSTALOGIST, n. One who describes, or is versed in the science of crustaceous animals.
CRUSTALOGY, n. [L., a shell, Gr., discourse.] That part of zoology which treats of crustaceous animals, arranging them in orders, tribes and families, and describing their forms and habits.
[Crustaceology, the word sometimes used, is ill-formed, and its derivatives inconveniently long. Who can endure such words as crustaceological?]
CRUSTATED, a. Covered with a crust; as crustated basalt.
CRUSTATION, n. An adherent crust; incrustation.
CRUSTED, pp. Covered with a crust.
CRUSTILY, adv. [from crusty.] Peevishly; harshly; morosely.
CRUSTINESS, n.
1. The quality of crust; harness.
2. Peevishness; moroseness; surliness.
CRUSTING, ppr. Covering with crust.
CRUSTY, a.
1. Like crust; of the nature of crust; pertaining to a hard covering; hard; as a crusty coat; a crusty surface or substance.
2. Peevish; snappish; morose; surly; a word used in familiar discourse, but not deemed elegant.
CRUTCH, n. [G.]
1. A staff with a curving cross piece at the head, to be placed under the arm or shoulder, to support the lame in walking.
2. Figuratively, old age.
CRUTCH, v.t. To support on crutches; to prop or sustain, with miserable helps, that which is feeble.
Two fools that crutch their feeble sense on verse.
CRUX, n. [L., a cross.] Any thing that puzzles and vexes. [Little used.]
CRUYSHAGE, n. A fish of the shark kind, having a triangular head and mouth.
CRY, v.i. pret. and pp. cried. It ought to be cryed.
1. To utter a loud voice; to speak, call or exclaim with vehemence; in a very general sense.
2. To call importunately; to utter a loud voice, by way of earnest request of prayer.
The people cried to Pharaoh for bread. Genesis 41:55.
The people cried to Moses, and he prayed. Numbers 11:2.
3. To utter a loud voice in weeping; to utter the voice of sorrow; to lament.
But ye shall cry for sorrow of heart. Isaiah 65:14.
Esau cried with a great and bitter cry. Genesis 27:34.
Also, to weep or shed tears in silence; a popular use of the word.
4. To utter a loud sound in distress; as, Heshbon shall cry. Isaiah 15:4.
He giveth food to the young raves which cry. Psalm 147:9.
5. To exclaim; to utter a loud voice; with out.
And, lo, a spirit taketh him, and he suddenly crieth out. Luke 9:39.
6. To proclaim; to utter a loud voice, in giving public notice.
Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem. Jeremiah 2:2.
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness. Isaiah 40:3.
7. To bawl; to squall; as a child.
8. To yelp, as a dog. It may be used for the uttering of a loud voice by other animals.
To cry against, to exclaim, or utter a loud voice, by way of reproof, threatening or censure.
Arise, go to Nineveh, and cry against it. Jonah 1:2.
To cry out, to exclaim; to vociferate; to scream; to clamor. To complain loudly.
To cry out against, to complain loudly, with a view to censure; to blame; to utter censure.
To cry to, to call on in prayer; to implore.
CRY, v.t.
1. To proclaim; to name loudly and publicly for giving notice; as, to cry goods; to cry a lost a child.
To cry down,
1. To decry; to depreciate by words or in writing; to dispraise; to condemn.
Men of dissolute lives cry down religion, because they would not be under the restraints of it.
2. To overbear. Cry down this fellows insolence.
To cry up,
1. To praise; to applaud; to extol; as, to cry up a man’s talents or patriotism, or a womans beauty; to cry up the administration.
2. To raise the price by proclamation; as, to cry up certain coins. [Not in use.]
To cry off, in the vulgar dialect, is to publish intentions of marriage.
CRY, n. plu. cries.
1. In a general sense, a loud sound uttered by the mouth of an animal; applicable to the voice of man or beast, and articulate or inarticulate.
2. A loud or vehement sound, uttered in weeping, or lamentation; it may be a shriek or scream.
And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt. Exodus 11:6.
3. Clamor; outcry; as, war, war, is the public cry.
And there arose a great cry. Acts 23:9.
4. Exclamations of triumph, or wonder, or of other passion.
5. Proclamation; public notice.
At midnight there was a cry made. Matthew 25:6.
6. The notices of hawkers of wares to be sold int he street are called cries; as the cries of London.
7. Acclamation; expression of popular favor.
The cry went once for thee.
8. A loud voice in distress, prayer or request; importunate call.
He forgetteth not the cry of the humble. Psalm 9:12.
There was a great cry in Egypt. Exodus 12:30.
9. Public reports or complaints; noise; fame.
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great--I will go down, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it. Genesis 18:21.
10. Bitter complaints of oppression and injustice.
He looked for righteousness, and behold a cry. Isaiah 5:7.
11. The sound or voice of irrational animals; expression of joy, fright, alarm, or want; as the cries of fowls, the yell or yelping of dogs, etc.
1. A pack of dogs.