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The doctrine that a soul is specially created for each human being as soon as it is formed in the womb; -- opposed to traducianism.

Anything created; anything not self-existent; especially, any being created with life; an animal; a man. He asked water, a creature so common and needful that it was against the law of nature to deny him. Fuller. God's first creature was light. Bacon. On earth, join, all ye creatures, to extol Him first, him last, him…

re of various phenols and their ethers, and is obtained by the distillation of wood tar, especially that of beechwood.

One who has commited a crime; especially, one who is found guilty by verdict, confession, or proof; a malefactor; a felon.

Pertaining to, or indicating, a crisis, turning point, or specially important juncture; important as regards consequences; hence, of doubtful issue; attended with risk; dangerous; as, the critical stage of a fever; a critical situation. Our circumstances are indeed critical. Burke. The small moment, the exact point, th…

To complain; especially, to grumble; to forebode evil; to utter complaints or forebodings habitually. Marat . . . croaks with reasonableness. Carlyle.

Any piece of crockery, especially of coarse earthenware; an earthen pot or pitcher. Like foolish flies about an honey crock. Spenser.

Earthenware; vessels formed of baked clay, especially the coarser kinds.

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.

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. Cf. Pastoral stafu. He left his crook, he left his flocks. Prior.

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

Hence: A mixing of breeds or stock, especially in cattle breeding; or the product of such intermixture; a hybrid of any kind. Toning down the ancient Viking into a sort of a cross between Paul Jones and Jeremy Diddler. Lord Dufferin.

The hinder part or buttocks of certain quadrupeds, especially of a horse; hence, the place behind the saddle. So light to the croup the fair lady he swung, So light to the saddle before her he sprung. Sir W. Scott.

Relating to or resembling croup; especially, attended with the formation of a deposit or membrance like that found in membranous croup; as, croupous laryngitis. Croupous pneumonia, pneumonia attended with deposition of fibrinous matter in the air vesicles of the lungs; ordinary acute pneumonia.

A wreath or garland, or any ornamental fillet encircling the head, especially as a reward of victory or mark of honorable distinction; hence, anything given on account of, or obtained by, faithful or successful effort; a reward. "An olive branch and laurel crown." Shak. They do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we…

A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Luke xvi. 21.

Often applied, especially in the plural, to parts which are supposed to resemble a pair of legs; as, the crura of the diaphragm, a pair of muscles attached to it; crura cerebri, two bundles of nerve fibers in the base of the brain, connecting the medulla and the forebrain.

oral and public proclamation of; to declare publicly; to notify or advertise by outcry, especially things lost or found, goods to be sold, ets.; as, to cry goods, etc. Love is lost, and thus she cries him. Crashaw.

A vault wholly or partly under ground; especially, a vault under a church, whether used for burial purposes or for a subterranean chapel or oratory. Priesthood works out its task age after age, . . . treasuring in convents and crypts the few fossils of antique learning. Motley. My knees are bowed in crypt and shrine. T…

Divination by means of a crystal or other transparent body, especially a beryl.