crustaceous (krustashius)

[NL. crusta ceus, That most witty conceit of Anaximander, that the first men and all animals were bred in some warm moisture, inclosed in crustaceous skins, as if they were crabfish and lobsters! Bentley , Sermons, iv. IMG:content-1736.png:[blocks in formation] His a ociates found him sometimes selfish and some- times crusty. The sweeter and mellower traits needed years and experience for their full ripening. G. S. Merriam, S. Bowles, I. 34. 2. In zoöl .: ( a ) Having a crust-like shell; be- longing to the Crustacea ; crustacean. (b) In entom ., having a somewhat hard and elastic texcrusuly, a . In her ., same as crucily . ture, resisting slight pre ure, but not rigid: crut1 (krut), n. said of parts of the integument.-3. In bot.: IMG:content-1737.png:[blocks in formation] ( a ) Hard, thin, and brittle. (b) In lichenology, crut2 (krut), n. [Perhaps forming a flat crust in or upon the substratum, see crust.] The rough shaggy part of oak-bark. and adhering to it firmly by the whole undersurcrut3 (krut), n. [Ir.: see crowd2.] An ancient IMG:content-1738.png:[blocks in formation] Irish musical instrument. See crowd2 . One can scarcely resist the conclusion which forces itself on the mind in reading over the references to the Crut scattered through Irish manuscripts, that that instrument was a true harp, played upon with the fingers, and without a plectrum. W. K. Sullivan , Introd. to O'Curry's Anc. Irish, p. cxix. crutch1 (kruch), n. [ crycc , le prop. spelled cricc , gen. dat. acc. crycce , cricce , MD. krucke , D. kruk = MLG . krucke , krocke , LG. krukke , krück = OHG. chruckjā , chruchā , MHG. kruche , krucke , G. krücke = Dan. krykke = Norw. krykkja = OSw. krykkia , Sw. krycka , a crutch. Akin to crook , with which in the Romance tongues its derivatives are mingled: ML. croccia , crucia , crucca , etc., > It. croc cia , also gruccia , a crutch; ML. croci a, crochia , crocea , etc., a crozier: see crook and cro 2 , cro zier , and cf. crotch .] 1. A support for the lame crutch crowd2. 1378 in walking, consisting of a staff of the proper crwth (kröth), n. The modern Welsh form of length, with a cro piece at one end so shaped as to fit easily under the armpit. The upper part of the staff is now commonly divided lengthwise into two parts, separated by an inserted piece used as a handle. IMG:content-1739.png:[blocks in formation] 3. Any fixture or mechanical device resembling a crutch or the head of a crutch. (a) A forked rest for the leg on a woman's saddle. (b) The cro handle of a ladle for molten metal. (c) The fork at the arm supporting the anchor-escapement of a clock. (d) Naut.: (1) A forked support for the main-boom of a sloop, brig, or cutter, etc., and for the spanker-boom of a ship, when their respective sails are stowed. (2) A piece of knee-timber placed inside a ship, for the security of the heels of the cant-timbers abaft. (3) A stanchion of wood or iron in a ship, the upper part of which is forked to receive a rail, spar, mast, yard, etc., when not in use. [In these uses also written crotch.] (e) In soap - making, a perforated piece of wood or iron attached to a pole, used to stir together the ingredients. (f) In mil it, mining, an upright piece of wood having a cro piece at its upper end, used for holding up the cap-sill of a gallery-case, while excavations for the rest of the frame are made. The crutches [two] are set up, and an excavation made large enough to admit the cap of the next case, which is laid on the projecting ends of the crutches , and, being supported by them, prevents the earth over the roof of the gallery from falling while the excavation is continued to admit the remainder of the new case. Ernst , Manual of Milit. Engineering, p. 362. (g) A rack: as, a bacon - crutch . - Crutch-escapement. See escapement . crutch1 (kruch), v. t. [ Two fools that crutch their feeble sense on verse. Dryden, Abs. and Achit., ii. 409. The genius of Molière, long undiscovered by himself, in its first attempts in a higher walk did not move alone; it was crutched by imitation, and it often deigned to plough with another's heifer. 1. D'Israeli, Lit. Char. Men of Genius, p. 409. 2. In soap - making , to stir forcibly with a crutch. soap - making , See crutch1 , n., 3 (e).