cracksman

[Eng. crack, v., and man.] A burglar. *crăck'-ў, *crăck'-le, a. & 8. [Eng. crack; -y.] A. As adj.: Talkative, often denoting the effect of being elevated. B. As subst.: A small, low, three-legged stool having a hole in the middle of the seat, by means of which it is lifted, used in cottages. Often crackiestool. Crăc-ō-vi-an, a. & 8. [See def.] A. As adj .: Of or belonging to Cracow in Poland. B. As subst.: A native or inhabitant of Cracow. cră-co-vi-ěnne', s . [Fr.=Cracovian.] IMG:content-1227.png:[blocks in formation] 1. From Sloane MS. 2. Toe of Cracowe 6 in. long. 3. From Royal MS. (Temp. Rich. II.) on their shoulders carry'd crades, With gla es in the same.' The Pleasant History of Jack Horner. (Nares.) cra-dle, *cradel, *cradele, *cradil, *credel, credille, '*credyll, *credylle, *kradell, s. [A. S. cradol , from Gael. creathall ; Ir. craidhal . Cognate with Lat. crates =a hurdle; Eng. crate.] A. Ordinary Language: I. Literally: 1. A baby's bed or cot, oscillating on rockers or swung upon pivots. The ancient Greeks used cradles, and called them by names indicating their cradle-babe forms, such as little bed, boat, . Baby cradles were used by the Romans. They are also mentioned by Theocritus. The cradle of Henry V. of England swung between two posts. "The cradle that received thee at thy birth." Cowper : Expostulation . 2. A crate. (Scotch.) II. Figuratively: 1. The place of birth or early nurture. 2. Infancy; the time when children sleep in cradles. ".... being ever from their cradles bred together, "-Shakesp. As You Like It, i. 1. B. Technically: 1. Surgery: (1) A thin shell or case of wood, acting as a splint for a broken bone or dislocated limb. (2) A framework which supports the bed-clothes above an injured limb. 2. Pottery : A frame on which loam-molds are placed in an oven to be burned, after the spindle is withdrawn. 3. Hydraul . Engin .: The frame in which a ship lies on the ways, and which accompanies her in launching; or, the frame in which a ve el lies on a way or slip, or in a canal-lift. A cradle was used in very early times in cro ing the Isthmus of Corinth, from the Corinthian to the Cenchrean Sea. The place was called the Diolcos , or drawing-place, and was five miles in length. This cro ing-place was again used during the maritime warfare between the Genoese and the Turks. In its simple form, the cradle consists of three longitudinal timbers united by ribs or cro -pieces. This is floated beneath the ship, which is la shed thereto by cables. The cradle and its burden are then floated to the inclined ways or slip, up which it is hauled, being supported by rollers which intervene between the timbers of the cradle and those of the slip. ( Knight .) 4. Metal .: A rocking apparatus, used in collecting gold from soil and sand by agitating the auriferous earth in water. The earth is shoveled into the sieve, and washed through its meshes by water, which also carries off the lighter earthy particles in suspension. The coarser matters, which do not pa the meshes of the sieve, are thrown out and the operation repeated. After a large quantity of earth has been thus disposed of, the contents of the cradle are washed in a pan and the gold obtained from the settlings. ( Knight .) 5. Engraving : A tool used by mezzotint-engravers. It consists of a steel plate with a proper tang and handle, and has angular grooves on its under surface, so that when the rounded end is obliquely ground, it will form a row of points by which a multitude of burrs are raised upon a plate. This is the mode of proceeding in mezzotint-engraving (q. v.), the cradle being rocked backward and forward, and retreating, making a zigzag series of burrs. This is cro ed at right angles, and then several times diagonally, until the whole surface of the plate is roughened, so as to hold the ink of the copper-plate printer. The burnisher and scraper remove the burr in parts, according to the desired graduation of lights. ( Knight .) 6. Mining : A suspended scaffold used by miners. 7. Carp .: The rough framework or bracketing forming ribbing for vaulted ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster. 8. Husbandry: (1) A set of fingers projecting from a post which is mortised into the snath of a grain-scythe. (2) A grain-scythe. 9. Nautical: (1) An apparatus or machine for shipping horses. (2) The basket or apparatus in which, when a line has been made fast to a ve el in distre , the sailors, ., are brought to land. 10. Architecture : (1) The centering for a bridge, culvert, . (2) A square depre ion or sinking in each interval between the modillions of the Corinthian cornice, and in other parts. (Crabbe.) 11. Games: The same as CAT'S-CRADLE (q. v.). 12. Old Armor : The part of the stock of a cro bow on which the mi ile rests. 1169 *cradle-band, *crædelbonde, *credelbonde, *credylbonde, credilbande, subst . Swaddling clothes. "Aoredilbande: fascia, fasciola, instita ."-Cathol Anglic. cradle-chimlay, s. The name given to the large grate, of an oblong form, open at all sides for the emi ion of the heat, which is used in what is called a "round-about fireside;" denominated from its resemblance to a cradle.