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A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit. He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by crotchets that he could never explain to any rational man. De Quincey.

Brisk; lively; bold; self-complacent. [Scot.] Burns.

To urge or press forward; to force one's self; as, a man crowds into a room.

ower or dominion; sovereignty. There is a power behind the crown greater than the crown itself. Junius.

A cooper's tool for making the grooves for the heads of casks, etc.; also, the groove itself.

One who crucifies; one who subjects himself or another to a painful trial.

t which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut. Lev. xxii. 24. The ass . . . thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall. Num. xxii. 25.

To cause to do something, or bring to some state, by crying or weeping; as, to cry one's self to sleep.

of a green color. -- Cube root. (Math.), the number or quantity which, multiplied into itself, and then into the product, produces the given cube; thus, 3 is the cube root of 27, for 3x3x3 = 27. -- Cube spar (Min.), anhydrite; anhydrous calcium sulphate.

ach of its dimensions. -- Cubic number, a number produced by multiplying a number into itself, and that product again by the same number. See Cube. -- Cubical parabola (Geom.), two curves of the third degree, one plane, and one on space of three dimensions.

The breastplate taken by itself.

a position in which an army finds itself with no way of exit but to the front.

Attentive care; homage; worship. Every one is convinced of the reality of a better self, and of. thecult or homage which is due to it. Shaftesbury.

Bestowal of time or attention for self-improvement or for the benefit of others; fostering care.

moist woods of North America , used as an active cathartic and emetic; also, the plant itself.

To bend; to crouch; to cringe. [Obs.] Virtue itself of vice must pardon beg, Yea, curb and woo for leave to do him good. Shak.

uish lights, and retire to rest, -- instituted by William the Conqueror; also, the bell itself. He begins at curfew, and walks till the first cock. Shak. The village curfew, as it tolled profound. Campbell.

To absent one's self from; as, to cut an appointment, a recitation. etc. [Colloq.] An English tradesman is always solicitous to cut the shop whenever he can do so with impunity. Thomas Hamilton. To cut a caper. See under Caper. -- To cut the cards, to divide a pack of cards into portions, in order to determine the dea…

lar knives of a harvester are attached. -- Cutter head (Mach.), a rotating head, which itself forms a cutter, or a rotating stock to which cutters may be attached, as in a planing or matching machine. Knight.

er better to resist the action of water, ice, etc.; the sharpened upper end of the pier itself.