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The state or character of being crotchety, or whimsical. This belief in rightness is a kind of conscientiousness, and when it degenerates it becomes crotchetiness. J. Grote.

To make the shrill sound characteristic of a cock, either in joy, gayety, or defiance. "The cock had crown." Bayron. The morning cock crew loud. Shak.

and result of an undertaking; a chief end. [Obs.] O this false soul of Egypt! this grave charm . . . . Whose bosom was my crownet, my chief end. Shak.

Characterized by crudeness; raw. [Obs.] The foolish and dull and crudy vapors. Shak.

Possessing, or characterized by, a crunode; -- used of curves.

One who writes in cipher, or secret characters.

Relating to cryptography; written in secret characters or in cipher, or with sympathetic ink.

The act or art of writing in secret characters; also, secret characters, or cipher.

A group of fishes, established by Agassiz, characterized by having scales with a pectinated margin, as in the perch. The group is now generally regarded as artificial.

A mucilagenous secretion of certain birds found as the characteristic ingredient of edible bird's-nests.

Of or pertaining to the older characters of the Arabic language. [Written also Kufic.]

Characterized by mental and moral training; disciplined; refined; well-educated. The sense of beauty in nature, even among cultured people, is less often met with than other mental endowments. I. Taylor. The cunning hand and cultured brain. Whittier.

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

One of the attendants of a prince or noble, permanently charged with the performance of this office for his master. "I was the king's cupbearer." Neh. i. 11.

Characterized by cup shakes; -- said of timber.

Spiritual charge; care of soul; the office of a parish priest or of a curate; hence, that which is committed to the charge of a parish priest or of a curate; a curacy; as, to resign a cure; to obtain a cure. The appropriator was the incumbent parson, and had the cure of the souls of the parishioners. Spelman.…

Having the qualities, or exhibiting the characteristics, of a cur; snarling; quarrelsome; snappish; churlish; hence, also malicious; malignant; brutal. Thy currish spirit Governed a wolf. Shak. Some currish plot, -- some trick. Lockhart. -- Cur"rish*ly, adv. -- Cur"rish*ness, n.

An invocation of, or prayer for, harm or injury; malediction. Lady, you know no rules of charity, Which renders good for bad, blessings for curses. Shak.

A character used in cursive writing.

Characterized by haste; hastily or superficially performed; slight; superficial; careless. Events far too important to be treated in a cursory manner. Hallam.