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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.

er, used for making violet or purple dye. It is prepared from certain species of lichen, especially Lecanora tartarea. Ure.

The tail; the end of a thing; especially, a tail-like twist of hair worn at the back of the head; a queue.

mental appendage at the wrist, whether attached to the sleeve of the garment or separate;especially, in modern times, such an appendage of starched linen, or a substitute for it of paper, or the like.

Mineral coal that is not bituminous; anthracite, especially when found in small masses.

To direct special attention to; to devote time and thought to; to foster; to cherish. Leisure . . . to cultivate general literature. Wordsworth.

it down; why cumbereth it the ground Luke xiii. 7. The multiplying variety of arguments, especially frivolous ones, . . . but cumbers the memory. Locke.

Wedge-shaped; as, a cuneiform bone; -- especially applied to the wedge-shaped or arrowheaded characters of ancient Persian and Assyrian inscriptions. See Arrowheaded.