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A buskin anciently used by tragic actors on the stage; hence, tragedy in general. The moment had arrived when it was thought that the mask and the cothurn might be assumed with effect. Motley.

A kind of woolen material for women's skrits.

A man who busies himself with affairs which properly belong to women. Addison.

pose; to lie. Where souls do couch on flowers, we 'll hand in hand. Shak. If I court moe women, you 'll couch with moe men. Shak.

The critical moment in a play, when, contrary to expectation, the action is embroiled in new difficulties. Dryden.

Possessing, or characterized by, courage; brave; bold. With this victory, the women became most courageous and proud, and the men waxed . . . fearful and desperate. Stow.

A square piece of linen used formerly by women instead of a cap; a kerchief. [Scot.] [Written also curch.] Jamieson.

An act of civility, respect, or reverence, made by women, consisting of a slight depression or dropping of the body, with bending of the kness. [Written also curtsy.] The lady drops a courtesy in token of obedience, and the ceremony proceeds as usual. Golgsmith.

king from approach or familiarity; reserved; bashful; shy; modest; -- usually applied to women, sometimes with an implication of coquetry. Coy, and difficult to win. Cowper. Coy and furtive graces. W. Irving. Nor the coy maid, half willings to be pressed, Shall kiss the cup, to pass it to the rest. Goldsmith.…

ne, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.

s a word, to which another finds a rhyme. I saw in one corner . . . a cluster of men and women,diverting themselves with a game at crambo. I heard several double rhymes . . . which raised a great deal of mirth. Addison.

A public nursery, where the young children of poor women are cared for during the day, while their mothers are at work.

f argument. Locke. Of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women. 2. Tim. iii. 6.

Without a crest or escutcheon; of low birth. "Crestless yeomen." Shak.

A kind of stiff cloth, used chiefly by women, for underskirts, to expand the gown worn over it; -- so called because originally made of hair.

her any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point. This hour's the very crisis of your fate. Dryden. The very times of crisis for the fate of the country. Brougham.

f a fever; a critical situation. Our circumstances are indeed critical. Burke. The small moment, the exact point, the critical minute, on which every good work so much depends. South. Critical angle (Optics), that angle of incidence of a luminous ray at which it is wholly reflected, and no portion of it transmitted. Th…

asant (Zoöl.), an Indian cuckoo; the common coucal. It is believed by the natives to give omens. See Coucal. -- Crow shrike (Zoöl.), any bird of the genera Gymnorhina, Craticus, or Strepera, mostly from Australia. -- Red-legged crow. See Crough. -- As the crow flies, in a direct line. -- To pick a crow, To pluck a…

g. -- Crush room, a large room in a theater, opera house, etc., where the audience may promenade or converse during the intermissions; a foyer. Politics leave very little time for the bow window at White's in the day, or for the crush room of the opera at night. Macualay.

An interval of time in which a certain succession of events or phenomena is completed, and then returns again and again, uniformly and continually in the same order; a periodical space of time marked by the recurrence of something peculiar; as, the cucle of the seasons, or of the year. Wages . . . bear a full proportio…