crisp 
waves or ringlets, as the hair ; wreathe or inter- 
weave, as the branches of trees. 
The blue-eyed Gauls, 
And criitped Germans. l>. Joiisoti, Sejanus, iii. 1. 
The crixped shades ami bowers. .!////,/. r<nnus, 1. 984. 
2. To wrinkle or curl into little undulations ; 
crimp ; ripple ; corrugate ; pucker : as, to crisp 
cloth. 
From that sapphire fount the crisped brooks, 
Rolling on orient pearl and Bands of gold, . . . 
Ran nectar, visiting each plant. 
Milton, P. L., iv. 237. 
II. in trans. 1. To form little curls or undu- 
lations; curl. 
The babbling runnel crispeth. Tennyson, Claribel. 
Dry leaf and snow-rime crisped beneath his foremost tread. 
Wldtticr, Bridal of Pennacook, iii. 
2. To become friable ; crackle. 
crispate, crispated (kris'pat, -pa-ted), a. [< 
L. crispatiis, prj. of crispare, curl: see crisp, r.] 
Having a crisped appearance, (a) In Int., same 
as crisp, 2. (6) In enlom., specifically applied to a margin 
which is disproportionately large for the disk, so that it is 
uneven, rising and falling in folds which radiate toward 
the edge. If these folds are curved, the margin is said to 
be undulate ; if they are angular, corrugate. Also crisp. 
crispation (kris-pa'shon), . [=T?. crispation; 
as crispate + -ion.] If. The act of curling, or 
the state of being curled or wrinkled. 
Heat causeth pilosity and crispation. 
Bacon, Nat. Hist, 872. 
2. In surg., a slight morbid or natural contrac- 
tion of any part, as that of the minute arteries 
of a cut wound when they retract. Mayne. 
3. A minute wave produced on the surface of 
a liquid by the vibrations of the supporting 
vessel, as when a moistened finger is moved 
around the rim of a glass, or when a glass plate 
covered by a thin layer of water is set in vibra- 
tion by a bow. 
crispature (kris'pa-tur), n. [As crispate + 
-are.] A curling; the 'state of being curled. 
crisper (kris'per), n. 1. One who or that which 
crisps, corrugates, or curls. Specifically 2. 
An instrument for crisping the nap of cloth ; a 
crisping-iron or crisping-pin. E. H. KnigJit. 
Crispin (kris'pin), . [< L. Crispins, a Roman 
surname, lit. having curly hair, < crispus, curl- 
ed: see crisp, ..] 1. A shoemaker: a familiar 
name, used in allusion to Crispin or Crispinus, 
the patron saint of the craft. Specifically 2. 
A member of the shoemakers' trade-union call- 
ed the Knights of St. Crispin. [U. S.]- st Cris- 
pin's day, October 2ftth. 
crispinet, . Same as crespine. Planche. 
crisping-iron (kris'pmg-I"ern), n. An iron in- 
strument used to crisp or crimp hair or cloth. 
Specifically () Same as crisper, 2. (5) A crimping-iron. 
For never powder nor the crispintj-iron 
Shall touch these dangling locks. 
Fletcher (and another), Queen of Corinth. 
crisping-pin (kris'ping-pin), n. Same as crisp- 
ing-iron. 
crispisulcantt (kris-pi-sul'kant), a. [< L. cris- 
pisulcan(t-)s, a ppr. f orm, "< crispus, curled, 
wavy, + sulcarc, ppr. sulcan(t-)s, make a fur- 
row, < sulcus, a furrow.] Wavy; undulating; 
crinkly. 
crisple (kris'pl), t>. t. ; pret. and pp. crispled, 
ppr. crispling. [Freq. of crisp, v. Hence by 
corruption crisle, crizzle : see crizzle.~\ To curl. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
crisple (kris'pl), n. [< crisple, v.~] A curl. 
[Prov. Eng.] 
crisply (krisp'li), adv. With crispness ; in a 
crisp manner. 
crispness (krisp'nes), . The state of being 
crisp, crimped, curled, or brittle. 
crispy (kris'pi), a. [< crisp + -yi.] 1. Curled ; 
formed into curls or little waves. 
Turn not thy crispy tides, like silver curl, 
Back to thy grass-green banks. 
Kyd, tr. of Garnier's Cornelia, li. 
2. Brittle; crisp. 
A black, crispy mass of charcoal. 
J. 11. Nichols, Fireside Science, p. 92. 
criss, n. Same as creese. 
crissal (kris'al), a. [< crissum + -al.~\ In or- 
nith. : (a) Having the under tail-coverts con- 
spicuous in color: as, the crissal thrush, (b) 
Of or pertaining to the crissum : as, the crissal 
region ; a crissal feather. 
crisscross (kris'kros), n. and a. [Corrupted 
from christ-cross, Christ's cross.] I. n. 1. Same 
as christ-cross. 2. A crossing or intersection; 
a congeries of intersecting lines. 
The town embowered in trees, the country gleaming 
With silvery crisscross of canals. 
C. De Kay, Vision of Mmrod, vli. 
1354 
3. A game played on a slate, or on paper, by 
children, in which two players set down alter- 
nately, in a series of squares, the one a cross, 
the other a cipher. The object of the game is 
to get three of the same characters in a row. 
Also called tit-tat-to. [U. S.] 
II. a. Like a cross or a series of crosses ; 
crossed and recrossed ; going back and forth. 
The poem is all zigzag, criss-cross, at odds and ends. 
Stedman, Viet. Poets, p. 304. 
crisscross (kris'kros), v. i. [< crisscross, .] 
To form a crisscross ; intersect frequently. 
The split sticks are piled up in open-work crisscrossing. 
C. D. Warner, Backlog Studies, p. 19. 
The sky Is cobwebbed with the criss-crossing red lines 
streaming from soaring bombshells. 
S. L. Clemens, Life on the Mississippi, p. 376. 
crisscross-row (kris'kros-ro'), n. Same as christ- 
eross-row. 
crissum (kris'um), n. [NL. (Illiger, 1811), < 
L. crissare or crisare, move the haunches.] In 
ornith., the region between the anus and the 
tail of a bird; especially, the feathers of this 
region, the vent-feathers or under tail-coverts, 
collectively. See cut under bird. 
Crissum is a word constantly used for some indefinite 
region immediately about the vent; sometimes meaning 
the flanks, sometimes the vent-feathers or under tail-cov- 
erts proper. Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 96. 
crista (kris'ta), . ; pi. cristce (-te). [L., a crest : 
see crest.'] 1. In goal, and anat., a crest, in 
any sense ; a ridge, prominence, or process like 
or likened to a crest or comb. 2. In ornith., 
specifically (a) The crest of feathers on a 
bird's head. (6) The keel of the breast-bone 
of a carinate bird; the crista sterni Crista 
acustica, the acoustic ridge ; a ridge in the ampulla; 
of the ear on which rest the end-organs of audition. 
Crista deltoidea, the deltoid ridge of the humerus. 
Crista fornicls, the crest of the fornix, observable in 
various mammals ; a hemispherical or semi-oval elevation 
of the posterior surface of the fornix just above the re- 
cessus aulte, between the porta; and opposite the fore con- 
vexity of the middle commissure of the brain : continuous 
with the carina fornicis. Crista galli, the cockscomb, 
a protuberance of the mesethmoid or perpendicular me- 
dian plate of the ethmoid, above the horizontal or cribri- 
form plate, serving for the attachment of the falx cerebri. 
See cut under craniofacial. Crista im. the crest of the 
ilium ; in hu>nan anat., the long sinuate-curved and arched 
border of that bone, morphologically its proximal extrem- 
ity.- Crista pectoralls.the pectoral ridge of the humerus. 
Crista pubis, the crest of the pubis, the portion of the 
bone included between the spine of the pubis and the syni- 
physis. Crista Sterni. the crest, keel, or carina of the 
breast-bone of a bird. Crista tibiae, the crest of the tibia; 
the cnemial crest or ridge of the shin-bone ; the sharp ante- 
rior border, or shin, of the bone. Crista urethra, the 
crest of the urethra ; a longitudinal fold of mucous mem- 
brane and subjacent tissue on the median line of the floor 
of the prostatic urethra, about three quarters of an inch 
in length and one quarter of an inch in height where it 
is greatest. On the summit open the ejaculatory ducts. 
Also called collicuhis setninalis, caput gallinafiinis, and 
ventinontanum. Crista vestibuli, a ridge of bone on 
the inner wall of the vestibule of the ear, forming the 
posterior limit of the fovea hemielliptica. 
cristalt, and a. An obsolete spelling of 
crystal. 
cristate (kris'tat), a. [< L. cristatus, < crista, 
a crest: see crest.] 1. In hot., crested; tufted; 
having some elevated appendage like a crest 
or tuft. 2. In eool., crested; having a crest 
or tuft, particularly on the head; having a tuft, 
mane, or ridge on the upper part of the head, 
body, or tail. Crested is more commonly used. 
3. Carinate or keeled, as the breast-bone of 
a bird. 
cristated (kris'ta-ted), a. Same as cristate. 
Cristatella (kris-ta-tel'a), n. [NL., < L. cris- 
tatus, crested, + dim. -elta.] The typical genus 
of the family Cristatellida:. c. mucedo is a Euro- 
pean species about two inches long, somewhat resemblinga 
hairy caterpillar, found creeping sluggishly in fresh water. 
Cristatellidae (kris-ta-tel'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < 
Cristatella + -ida>.~\ A family of fresh-water 
phylactolffimatous polyzoans, represented by 
the genus Cristatella. 
Cristellaria (kris-te-la'ri-ii), n. [NL.] A ge- 
nus of perforate foraminifers, of the family 
Nummulinidce. 
Cristellarian (kris-te-la'ri-an), a. [< Cristel- 
laria + -an.] Of or pertaining to the genus 
Cristellaria. 
Among the "perforate" Lagenida, we find the "uodosa- 
rian " and the cristellarian types attaining a very high de- 
velopment in the Mediterranean. Enajc. Brit., IX. :5. 
Cristellaridea, Cristellariidae (kris'te-la-rid'- 
e-a, -ri'i-de), n. pi. [NL., < Cristellaria + 
-idea, -id(e.~\ A group of perforate foramini- 
fers with a finely porous calcareous test, of 
nautiloid figure, taking name from the genus 
Cristellaria. See Nummulinidce. 
critic 
cristent, a. and n. The older form of Christian 1 . 
Chaucer. 
cristendomt, . The older form of Christendom. 
cristiform (kris'ti-form), . [< L. crista, a crest 
(see crest), + forma, form.] Having the form of 
a crest; shaped like a crest. Also crestiform. 
cristimanous (kris-tim'a-nus), a. [< L. crista, 
a crest (see crest), + mantis, hand.] Having 
crested claws: specifically said of such crabs 
as the calappids, formerly put in a section 
Cristimani. 
Oristivomer (kris-ti-vo'mer), n. [NL., < L. 
crista, a crest (see crest), + i-omer, a plow- 
share (NL., the vomer): see rower.] A genus 
of salmonoid fishes, containing the great lake- 
trout, C. namaycush. Gill and Jordan, 1878. 
cristobalite (kris-to-bal 'it), n. [< Cristobal 
(see def.) + -ite 2 .] ' A form of silica found in 
small octahedral crystals in cavities in the 
andesite of the Cerro San Cristobal, Mexico. 
It may be pseudomorphous. 
criterion (kri-te'ri-on), .; pi. criteria (-a). 
[Also less commonly criterium ; = G. Dan. krite- 
rium = F. criterium = Sp. Pg. It. criteria, < NL. 
criterion, criterium, < Gr. Kpirqptov, a test, a means 
of judging, < np/rfc, a judge, < Kpiveiv, judge : see 
critic.] A standard of judgment or criticism; 
a law, rule, or principle regarded as universally 
valid for the class of cases under consideration, 
by which matters of fact, propositions, opin- 
ions, or conduct can be tested in order to dis- 
cover their truth or falsehood, or by which a 
correct judgment may be formed. 
Exact proportion is not always the criterion of beauty. 
Goldsmith, Criticisms. 
The upper current of society presents no certain crite- 
rion by which we can judge of the direction in which the 
under current flows. Moxaulay, History. 
Nor are the designs of God to he judged altogether by 
the criterion of human advantage as understood by us, 
any more than from the facts perceptible at one point of 
view. Dawton, Nature and the Bible, p. 36. 
Criterion of truth, a general rule by which truth may be 
distinguished from falsehood. See Cartevian criterion of 
truth, under Cartesian. External criterion of truth, 
the fact that others' minds arrive at the same conclusion 
as our own. Formal criterion of truth, a rule for 
distinguishing consistent from inconsistent propositions. 
Material criterion of truth, a rule for distinguish- 
ing a proposition which agrees with fact from one which 
does not. Newtonian criterion, one of the quantities 
62 ac, c2 bd, etc., in an equation of the form 
1 + 
ex" 2 + etc. = 0. 
Pelrce's criterion (after Benjamin Peirce, an American 
mathematician, 1809-80), a certain rule for preventing 
observations from being rejected without sufficient rea- 
son. = Syn. Measure, rule, test, touchstone. 
criterional (kri-te'ri-on-al), a. [< criterion + 
-al. The proper form would be *eriterial.~] Re- 
lating to or serving as a criterion. Coleridae. 
[Bare.] 
criterium (kri-te'ri-um), .; pi. criteria (-a). 
[NL.] Same as criterion. 
Critb. (krith), n. [< Gr. Kpidf/, barley, a barley- 
corn, the smallest weight.] The mass of 1,000 
cubic centimeters (or the theoretical liter) of 
hydrogen at standard pressure and tempera- 
ture. Since the atomic weights of the simple gases ex- 
press also their densities relatively to hydrogen, and since 
the densities of compound gases, referred to the same 
unit, are half of their molecular weights, it is easy to cal- 
culate from the weight of the crith the exact weight of 
any gaseous chemical substance. 
crithomancy (krith'6-man-si), n. [< Gr. Kpidij, 
barley, + pavreia, divination; cf. KptSopavTif, 
one who divined by barley.] A kind of divina- 
tion practised among the ancients by means of 
cakes offered in sacrifice, or of meal spread over 
the victim. 
critic (krit'ik), . and a. [Formerly critick, cri- 
ti/jite; < F. critique, a critic, criticism, adj. crit- 
ical, critic, = Sp. critico, a critic, adj. critical, 
critic, critica, criticism, =Pg. It. critico, a crit- 
ic, adj. critical, critic, critica, criticism, = D. 
kritiek, criticism, adj. critic, critical, kritikus, a 
critic, = G. Dan. Sw. kritik, criticism, G. Dan. 
kritiker, Dan. Sw. kritikus, a critic (cf. D. G. 
kritisch = Dan. Sw. kritisk. critical, critic), < 
L. criticus, adj., capable of judging, n. a critic, 
fern. (NL.) critica, n., criticism, critique, < 
Gr. Kpmit6, adj., fit for judging, decisive, crit- 
ical, n. a critic, < apiTrjf, a judge, < npiveiv, sep- 
arate, judge : see crixis, crinn: cirtuhi.'] I. n. 
1. A person skilled in judging of merit in some 
particular class of things, especially in literary 
or artistic works ; one who is qualified to discern 
and distinguish excellences and faults, especial- 
ly in literature and art ; one who writes upon 
the qualities of such works. 
