cravat 
(See steinkirk.) The modern cravat is rather a necktie, 
passed once round the neck, and tied in front in a bow 
or as about 1840 and earlier (when the cravat consisted 
of 'a triangular silk kerchief, usually black), twice round 
the neck, in imitation of the stock. Formerly, when 
starched linen cravats were worn, perfection in the art of 
tying them was one of the great accomplishments of a 
dandy The cravat differs properly from the scarf, which, 
whether tied, or passed through a ring, or held by a pin, 
hangs down over the shirt-front. In England neckcloth is 
the usual word in this sense. 
The handkerchief about his neck, 
Canonical crabat of Smeck. 
S. Butler, Hudibras, I. in. 
"Perhaps, Louisa," said Mr. Dombey, slightly turning 
his head in his cravat, as if it were a socket, "you would 
have preferred a fire?" Dickens, Dombey and Son, v. 
cravat (kra-vaf), " or t.; pret. and pp. cra- 
vatted, ppr". cravatting. [< cravat, .] To put 
on or wear a cravat ; invest with a cravat. 
I redoubled my attention to dress; I coated and cra- 
aatted. Buhner, Pelham, xxxiii. 
To come out washed, cratatted, brushed, combed, ready 
for the breakfast-table. 
W. Mathews, Getting on in the World, p. 90. 
cravat-goose (kra-vat'gb's), n. A name of the 
common wild goose of America, Bernicla cana- 
densis, from the white mark on the throat. 
cravat-Stringt (kra-vat'string), n. A cravat. 
And the well-ty'd cravat-striwj wins the dame. 
Tom Brown, Works, IV. 223. 
(krav), v. ; pret. and pp. craved, ppr. crav- 
1336 
Wherever the forces of the ... [English and French] 
nations met, they met with disdainful confidence on one 
side, and with a craven fear on the other. 
Macaulay, William Pitt. 
To cry cravent [orig. to cry " craven ! " i. e. ' (I am) con- 
quered ! 'J, to yield In submission ; be defeated ; fail. 
When all human means cry craven, then that wound 
made by the hand of God is cured by the hand of His Vice- 
gerent. Fuller, Ch. Hist., II. vi. 33. 
II. n. A mean or base coward ; a pusillani- 
mous fellow ; a dastard. 
K. lien. Is it fit this soldier keep his oath? 
Flu. He is a craven and a villain else. 
Shak., Hen. V., iv. 7. 
Her anger, leaving Pelleas, burn'd 
Full on her knights in many an evil name 
Of craven, weakling, and thrice-beaten hound. 
Tennyson, Pelleas and Ettarre. 
= Syn. Poltroon, Dastard, etc. See coward. 
craven (kra'vn), v. t. [< craven, a.] To make 
craven, recreant, weak, or cowardly. 
Against self-slaughter 
There is a prohibition so divine 
That cravens my weak hand. 
Shak., Cymbeline, iii. 4. 
Sense-conquering faith is now grown blind and cold 
And basely craven'd, that in times of old 
Did conquer Heav'n itself. Quarles, Emblems, i. 15. 
craver (kra'ver), n. One who craves or begs; 
a suppliant. [Rare.] 
I'll turn craver too, and so I shall 'scape whipping. 
Shak., Pericles, ii. 1. 
[Verbal n. of crave, v.'] 
or longing; appe- 
cf. Icel. krafa, a demand.] I. trans. 1. To ask 
with earnestness or importunity ; beseech ; im- 
plore; ask with submission or humility, as a 
dependant ; beg or entreat for. 
Joseph . . . went in boldly unto Pilate, and craved the 
body of Jesus. Mark xv. 43. 
I crave leave to deal plainly with your Lordship. 
Howell, Letters, I. iv. 25. 
That day Sir Lancelot at the palace craved 
Audience of Guinevere. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
2. To long for or eagerly desire, as a means 
of gratification ; require or demand, in order to 
satisfy appetite or passion. 
For e'en in sleep, the body, wrapt in ease, 
Supinely lies, as in the peaceful grave ; 
And, wanting nothing, nothing can it crave. 
Dryden, tr. of Lucretius, iii. 110. 
3. To demand a debt ; dun : as, I craved him 
wherever I met him. [Scotch.] = Syn. Ask, Tie- 
plead : with for. 
On the lower ground was the agora, where the Epidam- 
nian exiles craved for help, and pointed to the *- 
While his [Voltaire's] literary fame filled all Europe, he 
was troubled with a childish craving for political distinc- 
tion. Macaulay, Frederic the Great. 
Internal tranquillity came, no doubt, in great measure, 
from the exhaustion of the country, from that craving for 
peace and order which follows on long periods of anarchy. 
J. R. Green, Conq. of Eng., p. 417. 
cravingly (kra'ving-li), adv. In an earnest or 
craving manner. 
cravingness (kra'ving-nes), n. The state of 
craving. 
craw 1 (kra), n. [< ME. crawe (not in AS., where 
crop was used : see crop), prob. < Sw. krafva, 
dial, krce, = Dan. kro, the craw, akin to Sw. 
krage = Dan. brave, collar, = D. kraag, the neck, 
collar: see cra</ 2 .] 1. The crop or first stom- 
ach of a bird, technically called the ingluvies. 
We have seen some [buzzards] whose breast and belly 
were brown, and only marked across the craw with a large 
white crescent. Pennant, Brit. Zoology. 
2. Figuratively, the stomach of any animal. 
[Rare.] 
As tigers combat with an empty craw. 
Byron, Don Juan, viii. 49. 
crayon 
2. To move or walk feebly, slowly, laboriously, 
or timorously. 
He was hardly able to crawl about the room. 
Arbuthnot. 
Sometimes along the wheel-deep sand 
A one-horse wagon slowly crawled. 
Whittur, Tent on the Beach. 
A black-gowned pensioner or two crawling over the 
quiet square. Thackeray, Newcomes, vii. 
3. To advance slowly and secretly or cunningly ; 
hence, to insinuate one's self ; gain favor by 
obsequious conduct. 
One 
Hath crawl'd into the favour of the king. 
Shak., Hen. VIII., iii. 2. 
4. To have a sensation like that produced by 
a worm crawling upon the body : as, the flesh 
crawls TO crawl into one's hole. See Ao(i.=Syn. 
Crawl, Creep. So far as these words are differentiated, 
crawl is used of a more prostrate or slower movement than 
creep, as that of a worm or snake, or a child prone on the 
ground, in contrast with that of a short-legged reptile, a 
crouching animal, or a child on its hands and knees. A 
person is said either to crawl or to creep in his walk, as from 
inertness, age, or debility, according to the greater or less 
degree of slowness or feebleness. Running or climbing 
plants creep, but do not crawl. The distinction between 
the words is more strongly marked in their figurative 
application to human actions, crawl expressing cringing 
meanness or servility, and creep stealthy slyness or malig- 
nity. Creep alone is used in all senses in the Bible, Shak- 
spere, etc. 
The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls. 
Tennyson, The Eagle. 
'Tis sweet to listen as the night-winds creep 
From leaf to leaf. Byron, Don Juan, i. 122. 
I did not properly creep, knowing that it would not do 
to raise my back ; I rather swam upon the ground. 
J. W. De Forest, Harper's Mag., XXXV. 342. 
crawl 1 (kral), n. [< crawl*, t>.] The act of 
crawling; a slow, crawling motion : as, his walk 
crawl 2 (kral), . [< D. kraal, an inclosure, a 
cattle-pen : see kraal, which is also in E. use in 
South Africa ; prob. ult. identical with corral, 
on the sea-coast, for containing fish or turtles. 
On their return all hands enter the crawl and beat out 
the now-rotted fleshy part of the sponge. 
Fortnightly Rev., N. S., XXXIX. 179. 
crawl-a-bottom (kr&l'a-bot'um), . The hog- 
sucker. [Local, U. S.]' 
crawler (kra'ler), n. 1. One who or that which 
crawls; a creeper; a reptile. 
Unarm'd of wings and scaly oare, 
Unhappy crawler on the land. 
Lovelace, Lucasta. 
2. A dobson or hellgrammite ; the larva of a 
neuropterous insect of the family Sialidce. as of 
Corydalus cornutus. Stand. Nat. Hist., II. 156. 
craven (kra'vn), a. and n. [Early mod. E. also 
cravent, cravant; < ME. cravant, cravaunde (for 
orig. *cravante, in three syllables, the accented 
final -e being later lost, as in costive, q.v.), con- 
quered, overcome, cowardly, < OF. cravante, 
craventt, pp. of cravanter, craventer, crevanter, 
gravanter, carventer, break, break down, over- 
throw, overcome, conquer, mod. F.dial. (Norm.) 
cravanter, gravater,accravater, crush with a load, 
craventer (Rouchi), overwhelm, craventer (Pi- 
card), tire out (cravent^, tired out), = Sp. Pg. 
quebrantar, break, pound, move to pity, weak- 
en, < ML. as if "crepantare, freq. (< crepan(t-)s, 
pr.) of L. crepare (> F. crever = Pr. crebar = 
&p. Pg. quebrar = It. crepare), break : see crep- 
itate, decrepit, and cf . crevice, crevasse, from the 
same ult. source. The etym. has been much 
debated, being usually associated by etymolo- 
gists, and to some extent in popular appre- 
hension, with (1) crave, the form craven, ME. 
cravant, cravaunde, being assumed to be the 
ppr. of this verb (in ME. prop, cravant, cravend); 
or with (2) creant, recreant. ME. creant, creaunt, 
recreant, recreannt, used like craven in acknow- 
ledging defeat, prop, ppr., yielding, submitting, 
lit. believing, or accepting a new faith, ult. < L. 
creden(t-)s, believing: see creant, recreant. The 
confusion with these words seems to have ex- 
isted from the ME. period, and has somewhat 
affected the meaning of craven.] I. a. If. Over- 
come ; conquered ; defeated. See to cry craven, 
below. 
Al ha cneowen ham cravant and ouercumen [they all 
knew them to be conquered and overcome]. 
Legend of St. Katharine, p. 132. 
2. Cowardly; pusillanimous; mean-spirited. 
Haa ! crauo'unde knyghte, a coward the semez. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 133. 
The poor craven bridegroom said never a word. 
Scott, Young Lochiuvar. 
(kra), v. and n. Scotch form of crow*. 
(kra), n. Scotch form of crow 2 . 
craw-bonet (kra'bon), w. The collar-bone. 
crawfish, crayfish (kra'-, kra'fish), w. [Early 
mod. E. also craifisli, crqfish, crefish, accom. 
forms (simulating fish*) of crevis, crevice, cre- 
vyssh, < ME. crevise, creveys, crevis, creves, < OF. 
crevice, crevisse, escrevisse, F. ecrevisse, a craw- 
fish, < OHG. chrebiz, MHG. krebez, G. krebs, a 
crab: see craft 1 .] 1. The common name of the 
small fluviatile long-tailed decapod crustaceans 
of the genera Astacus and Cambarus; especially, 
in Great Britain, the Astacus ftuviatilis ; and by 
extension, some or any similar fresh-water crus- 
tacean. See cuts under Astacidai and Astacus. 
2. The name in the west of England and 
among the London fishmongers of the small 
spiny lobster, Palinurus vulgaris. Also called 
sea-crawfish. 
crawfish (kra'fish), v. i. To move backward or 
sidewise like a crawfish ; hence, to recede from 
an opinion or a position ; back out or back 
down. [Colloq., U. S.] 
crawl 1 (kral), v. i. [Early mod. E. also crall ; 
not found in ME. ; < Icel. krafla, paw, scrabble, 
crawl, = Sw. krafla, grope, = Dan. kravle, crawl, 
creep ; cf . D. krabbelen, scratch, scrawl, = MLG. 
G. krabbeln, crawl (see craW, v.); cf. Sw. krala, 
crawl, dial, kr&la, crawl, kralla, creep, also Sw. 
dial, krylla, swarm out, as insects, krilla, crawl, 
D. krielen, swarm, crowd.] 1. To move slow- 
ly by thrusting or drawing the body along the 
ground, as a worm ; creep. 
Doctor, I will see the combat, that's the truth on 't : 
If I had never a leg, I would crawl to see it. 
Beau, and Fl., Knight of Malta, ii. 4. 
From shaded chinks of lichen-crusted walls, 
In languid curves, the gliding serpent crawls. 
0. W. Holmes, Spring. 
tion ofcoralroot.'] The coralroot, Corallorhiza 
odontorhiza. 
crawlingly (kra'ling-li), adv. In a crawling 
manner. 
crawly (kra'li), a. [< crawl* + -y*.~] Having 
a sensation as of the contact of crawling things. 
[Colloq.] 
It made you feel crawly. The Century, XXIX. 268. 
Craz (kraks), n. [NL., formed after Crex, q. v., < 
Gr. K.paC,civ, later upat-eiv, croak as a raven: see 
crake*, croak.'] The typical genus of birds of 
the family CracidtB. It was formerly conterminous 
with the Cracince, and contained all the curassows and 
hoccos ; but it is now restricted to the former. The head 
is crested and the base of the bill sheathed. The type is 
C. alector. See cut under curassow. 
Cray 1 !, Another form of crare. 
cray 2 (kra), n. An elevation or structure ex- 
tended into a stream to break the force of the 
water, or to prevent it from encroaching on the 
shore ; a breakwater. 
cray 3 t (kra), . [< late ME. way, < OF. craye, 
in mal de craye, a disease of hawks, lit. chalk- 
disease: craye, < L. creta, chalk: see crayon.] 
A disease of hawks, proceeding from cold and 
a bad diet. 
With mysfedynge she [the hawk] shall haue the Fronse, 
the Rye, the Cray, and many other syknesses that bring 
theym to the Sowse. 
Juliana Berners, Treatyse of Fysshynge wytn an Angle, 
[fol. 2. 
crayert, n. See crare. 
crayfish, . See crawfish. 
crayon (kra'on), n. and a. [< F. crayon, < craie, 
chalk, < L. creta, chalk : see cretaceous.'] I. n. 
1. A pencil-shaped piece of colored clay, chalk, 
or charcoal, used for drawing upon paper. Cray- 
ons are made from certain mineral substances in their nat- 
ural state, such as red or black chalk, but they are more 
commonly manufactured from a fine paste of chalk or pipe- 
clay colored with various pigments, and consolidated by 
means of gum, wax, soap, etc. Crayons vary iu hardness. 
