crinoline 
work of tine steel nr other In >ops or springs, used 
far distending the drew; ;i lump-ski n. scc/i//- 
i/' :md /KI/I xl.n'l. 
Urn run move >. IMIII h inure i|iijetly without //" 
HIM'." ... A liiKllntaili uf in-. hair :nl srarlet ]i-l tlroal 
lrlii;iill'''l nil Mil- lit...!-, IIJtlMinn h\ all .tvrl-l..ll *teel 
mousetrap. '/ I ",,'/., 'I'lli 1 Trial. 
Crinoline-steels, tliin ami narrow ribbon* of steel MM. I 
fur Inakllli: I ..... |> kit t - 
II. ii. I'ci-liiiiiing to or resembling a crinoline 
iu struct uiv. 
Thr " Mi'iialell," our <.f the ships experimented Upon, 
. . . was coiiMdere.l to have lie* M ma<li' almo-it impreKiia 
Me against any attack tiy a stnmi,' rrinlin>- framework of 
booms anil spars limit up ruunil licr. /',. . in, i : H. -207. 
crinon(kri'iioii), . [< L. <rti., hair: seerriw.] 
A crinigcr : n bird of the genus Criuiyer of Tera- 
niiiiek. (I. Ciirii-r. 
erinones, . Plural of <;ri, 1. 
crinose (kri'nos), a. [< L. crinis, hair (see crine), 
+ -use. Cf. ML. criaiottus, hairy.] Hairy. 
[liar,..] 
crinosity (kri-nos'i-ti), n. [< erinour + -ity.] 
Hairiness. [Rare.]] 
Crinum (kri'nuin), n. [NL., < Gr. itpivov, a lily.] 
A genus of tall bulbous plants, natural or- 
der AiiHirylliitiitw, of which there are about 
CO species, natives of tropical and subtropical 
regions. They are very beautiful greenhouse- plants, 
with strap-shaped leaves anil a solid scape hearing an 
I :!'>:( 
iispjiragus-1 tic. I'. iix/Miniiii, is an cxanipli-. 
Si-c ciil under nxpiiriiiiiix-liii-Hr. 
Criosphinx (kn'y-sh'ngks), H. [< (ir. v<4f, a 
rain, + nur.:. sphinx.) One of the Hire:' va- 
rieties n! t In- K^'vpiiau sphinx, chiiractcri/.c-d by 
umbel of flowers. The genus differs from the common 
Amaryllis iu the long tube of the flowers, which also are 
sessile iu the umbel instead of pedicellate. The Asiatic 
poison-bulli, C. Anfaticuiu, a native of the East, has a bulb 
above ground, which is a powerful emetic, and is often 
used by the natives (< produce vomiting after prison has 
been taken. 
criocephalous (kri-o-sef'a-lus), a. [< NL. crio- 
cephalux, < Gr. K/>i6t;, a ram, + Kf0aAjy, head.] 
Having a ram's head : as, a criocephalous sphinx. 
criocephalus (kri-o-sef'a-lus), w.; jil.criocephali 
(-H). [NL.: see c'riocephalmm.'] Aram-headed 
being or animal. See criosphinx. 
Hillocks bumped and deformed, squatting like the erio- 
cephalu* of the tombs. 
L. Ilearn, tr. of Oalitier's Cleop. Nights, p. 6. 
Crioceras (kri-os'e-ras), n. [NL., < Gr. p5f, a 
ram, + lif/mc, horn.] A genus of 
tetrabranchiate cephalopods.of 
the family . lm;niViY/V(',ormade 
type of a family ('rwcernliilir, 
containing discoidal ammon- 
ites having the whorls dis- 
crete : so called from the re- 
semblance to a ram's horn. 
The species are numerous. Al- 
-. " o*. Crioceratites, and 
criocerate (kri-os'e-rat), a. Same as criocera- 
titn\ 
crioceratid (kri-o-ser'a-tid), . A cephalopod 
of the family Crloceraiiflfc. 
Crioceratidse (kn 6-se-rat'i-de), n. pi. [NL., 
< Crioceras (-cerat-) + -iiln:] A family of fossil 
cephnlopods. typified by the genus Crioera; 
the ram's-horn ammonites or crioceratites. 
crioceratite (kri-o-ser'a-tlt), n. [< Crin /</. 
(-rerut-) + -i>2.]' A fossil of the genus Cri- 
crrtix ; a ram's-horn ammonite. 
crioceratitic (kri-o-ser-a-tit'ik), n. Pertaining 
to or having the characters of the Crioceratidcp. 
Also criocrrn'c. crior/riiii. 
Crioceridae (kri-o-ser'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Crio- 
ceris + -<te.] A family of phytophagous te- 
tramerous coleopters, taking name from the 
genus Crioccrix. Tln-> an- related t, . the <'hr>i*ini>- ';,/.. 
and are sometimes inrr^rtl in that family. They have an 
oblong boily. and the posterior femurs are frei|iientlv en 
larged, \vhem-e the term Kiii"l<< applied hy I.utreiHe. 
'I'hey include many aquatic beetles. Als.i Criocerida, Crio- 
Crioceris (kri-os'e-ris), . [NL. (Geoffrey, 
17(i4). < <!r. ^>'-c, a ram, + KF/MC, a horn.] The 
typical genus of the family t'rinirrida: The 
Criocphlnx. 
having the head of a ram, as distinguished from 
the androx/ilihis, with the head of a human 
being, and the nieracogjiliinjc, or hawk-headed 
sphinx. See xphiii f. 
crioust (kri'us), a. [ME. erioux; < fry + -*.] 
Clamorous. 
A fool womman and rriiiu*. Wycl(f, I*rov. ix. 13 (Oxf.). 
cripling, . See crippliiii/. 
crippawn (kri-pan'), n. [Appar. a corruption 
of an Ir. word.] A disease of cattle. [Local, 
Ireland.] 
crippint, . Same as crespine. 
cripple (krip'l), n. and n. [Cf. dial, creeple ; < 
ME? cripel, crenel, crepul, crypel, cru/iel, etc., < 
ONorth. crypel (in comp. eorth-crypel, a para- 
lytic, lit. a ground-creeper) (= OFries. krcppel, 
North Fries. kreM, krabel = MLG. kropel, kre- 
pel, LG. kropel = D. kreppel, kropel, kreupel = 
OHG. kruppel, MHG. kruppel, MG. krupel, kro- 
pel, G. kruppel = Icel. kryppill = Dan. kriibbel 
(found only as adj. and in comp.), dim. krob- 
ling ; cf . Sw. krytiipting, akin to L. crump) ; with 
suffix -el, < AS. creopan (pp. cropen), creep: 
see creep, and cf. creeper.~\ I. . 1. One who 
creeps, halts, or limps ; one who is partially or 
wholly deprived of the use of one or more of 
his limbs ; a lame person : also applied to ani- 
mals. 
Thay myjt not fyst mare oloft, 
But creped aliout in the "croft," 
As thay were croked crepyltt. 
Tvrnamrnt of Tnttmham (Percy Keliques, p. 178). 
And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent iu his 
feet, lieing a cripple frout his mother's womb, who never 
bad walked. AcU xlv. 8. 
A good dog must . . . understand how to retrieve his 
birds judiciously, bringing the cripitits first. 
R. B. Komerelt, Uame Water-Birds (1884), p. 335. 
2. A dense thicket in swampy or low land ; a 
patch of low timber-growth. [Local, U. 8.] 
The Ruffed Grouse often takes refuge from the sports- 
man amidst the thickest rripi^et. deepest gullies, and 
densest foliage, where it is impossible to get at them. 
SjHtrtgrnan'tt Gazettffr, p. 128. 
3. A rocky shallow in a stream : so called by 
lumbermen. [Local, U. 8.] 
II. a. Lame; decrepit. 
Chide the cripple tardy-gaited night. 
Sltalc., Hen. V., iv. (cho.). 
cripple (krip'l), r. ; pret. and pp. crippled, ppr. 
<-ri /idling. [< ME. cripelen (= LG. G. kriipeln), 
int rans.. creep, crawl; prop. freq. of crepen, 
creep, but resting partly on crcpel, cripel, etc., 
a creeper, cripple: see cripple, n. As trans., 
cripple, v., is from the noun.] I.t intrans. To 
walk haltingly, like a cripple. 
He crepeth cripelnnile forth. Bftliarti, 1. 130. 
II. trans. 1. To make (one) a cripple; partly 
disable by injuring a limb or limbs; deprive of 
the free use of a limb or limbs, especially of a 
leg or foot ; lame. 
Thou cold sciatica, 
Cripple our senators, that their limlis may halt 
As lamely as their manners ! Shak., T. of A., iv. 1. 
KuoU upon his gouty joints apix-ar. 
And chalk is in his cripplftl Angers found. Drydtn. 
2. To disable in part ; impair the power or ef- 
ficiency of; weaken by impairment: as, the fleet 
was cri/ipli <! in the engagement; to cripple one's 
resources by bad debts. 
More serious embarrassments of a different description 
were crippling the energy of the settlement in the Bay. 
Pa(frey, 
Debt, which consumes so much t hue, which so cripple* 
and disheartens a great spirit with cares that seem so base. 
Kmerton, Nature. 
= 8yn. 1. Maim, pMimre, etc. See mutilate. 
crippledom (krip'1-dmn), . [< cripple + -<l<mt.~\ 
1. The state of being a cripple; crippleness. 
I was emerging rapidly from a state of criirpletlmn to one 
of comparative activity. H'. //. Ruttrll. 1-ehia 
2. Cripples collectively. [Rare in both uses.] 
crippleness (krip'1-nes), n. Lameness. [Rare.] 
crippler ^krip'ler). . [Prob. for 'rrimplir. 
Cf. crimpittg-board.] Same as <jrniiiiii</-l>(iiiril. 
crisp 
crippling (krip'ling), . [\'erlial n. of 
r.; likened to a cripple's crutches. ) I'm-") 
of spars or tiniliers set up as supports against 
the sides of u building. Also spelled i-n/ilinii. 
cripst, ". A Middle Knglish transposition 'of 
arttp. 
CHS, n. See (;-.< . 
crises, . I'lm-al of </<.(>. 
Crisia(kri.s'i-ii). . |.\l.. (Unuir.-k, ISIL').] Tin- 
typical genus of the family i 'n.-mlir. < '. i liiinnn 
is an ivory-white calcareous species found on 
~i -a weeds. 
Orisidia (kri-sid'i-ft), n. [NL., < Criiia.} A. 
genus of polyzoans, of the familv Criifii'ln: 
Crisiida (kn'-si'i-<le), n. pi. [NL., < friitia + 
-iilii'.] A family of gymnola*niatous ectoproc- 
toUB polyzoans, rc-jircscnting the articulate or 
radicate division of ('yclonlonnilii. Also written 
I 'risuttlir, 
crisis (kri'sis), . ; pi. crixex (-DOZ). [= V. crisr 
8p. rrixm = Pg. crine = It. crise'crixi, < L. rrixia. < 
Gr. Kpinif, a separating, decision, decisive point, 
crisis, < Kpivetv, separate, decide: see critic, 
rriiin', certain.] 1. A vitally important or de- 
cisive state of things ; the point of culmination ; 
a turning-point; the point at which a change 
must come, either for the better or the worse, 
or from one state of things to another : as, a 
ministerial crisis; a financial crisix ; a crisis in 
a person's mental condition. 
This hour ' the very rrijn'n of your fate. 
/'..'"'". Spanish Friar, IT. ' 
Nor is it unlikely that the very occasions on which such 
defects are shown may lie the most imjiortant of alt the 
very times of cri*t'* for the fate of the country. 
/frim.'/Adm. 
Tile similarity of the circumstances of two political 
eriert may bring out parallels and coincidences. 
,SYuM>, Medieval and Modern Hist., p. 80. 
2. In me<l., the change of a disease which in- 
dicates the nature of its termination ; that 
change which prognosticates recovery or death. 
The term is sometimes also used to denote the 
symptoms accompanying the condition. 
In pneumonia the natural termination Is by a well- 
marked cruis, which may take place as early as the fifth 
<lay, or lie deferred U) the ninth. V""'". Med. Diet., p. M19. 
Cardiac crisis. See cardiac. =Syn. Emergency, etc. See 
exigency. 
crislet, r. i. An obsolete form of cri;:le. 
Clisp (krisp), n. and . [< ME. crisp, crips, 
kyrup, < AS. crisp, "cirpx, cyn>s = OF. crespe, F. 
crfpe (> E. crape, q. v.) = Sp. Pg. It. crespo, < 
L. cri#pu8, curled, crimped, wavy, uneven, trem- 
ulous.] I. a. 1. Curled; crimpled; crimped; 
wrinkled ; wavy ; especially (of the hair), curl- 
ing in small stiff or firm curls. 
(Yi'xy* -In-fit was the kyng. coloiiret as gold. 
Dfrtruction of Troy (E. E. T. 8.), 1. 3757. 
His hair U rrt*;>, and black, and long, 
His face is like the tan. 
Lmgftlioif, Village Blacksmith. 
2. In bot., curled and twisted: applied to a leaf 
when the border is much more dilated than the 
disk. 3f. Twisted; twisting; winding. 
You nymphs, called Naiads, of the windering Luniks. . . . 
Leave your friaji channels. Shalr., Tempest, Iv. 1. 
4. Brittle ; friable ; breaking or crumbling into 
fragments of somewhat firm consistence. 
The cakes at tea ate short and crijp. 
Goldtinith, Vicar, xi. 
5. Possessing a certain degree of firmness and 
vigor ; fresh ; having a fresh appearance. 
It [laurel) has been plucked nine months, and yet looks 
as hale ami crurp as if It would last ninety years. 
Leifffi Hunt. 
6. Brisk; lively. 
The snug small home and the critp Are. Dickeiu. 
7. Having a sharp, pleasantly acrid taste. 
Your neat critp claret. Ileau. and Fl. 
8. Lively in expression; pithy; terse; spar- 
kling. 
The lessons of criticism which he himself [Goethe) has 
taught me iu the criitp epigrams of his conversations with 
Ki -kermann. 
R. H. Ilulton, Essays in Literary Criticism, Pref. 
9. In cttiom., same as crispate. 
Il.t n. 1. A material formerly used for veils, 
probably similar to crape ; a veil. 
Upon her head a silver critp she pind, 
Loose wauing on her shoulders with the wind. 
Hu<t,n, Judith, iv. 51. 
2. Same as crrx/iine. Planch^. 
crisp (krisp), r. [< ME. crispen, crespe* (partly 
after OF.), < AS. 'crixpian, *cirpsian, cyrpsian; 
cf. OF. cresper, mod. F. crfper, also crisper = 
Sp. crespar = Pg. en-crespar = It. crexpare, < L. 
crixpare. curl, < crispus, curled: see erisp. a.] I. 
trains. 1. To curl; twist; contract or form into 
