Part 663

He had crippled the joints of the noble child. Sir W. Scott.

2. To deprive of strength, activity, or capability for service or use; to disable; to deprive of resources; as, to be financially crippled.

More serious embarrassments . . . were crippling the energy of the settlement in the Bay. Palfrey.

An incumbrance which would permanently cripple the body politic. Macaulay.

Crip"pled (kr?p"p'ld), a. Lamed; lame; disabled; impeded. "The crippled crone." Longfellow.

Crip"ple*ness, n. Lameness. [R.] Johnson.

Crip"pler (-pl?r), n. A wooden tool used in graining leather. Knight.

Crip"pling (-pl?ng), n. Spars or timbers set up as a support against the side of a building.

Crip"ply (-pl?), a. Lame; disabled; in a crippled condition. [R.] Mrs. Trollope.

Cri"sis (kr?"s?s), n.; pl. Crises (-s&?;z). [L. crisis, Gr. &?;&?;&?;&?;, fr. &?;&?;&?;&?; to separate. See Certain.] 1. The point of time when it is to be decided whether any affair or course of action must go on, or be modified or terminate; the decisive moment; the turning point.

This hour's the very crisis of your fate. Dryden.

The very times of crisis for the fate of the country. Brougham.

2. (Med.) That change in a disease which indicates whether the result is to be recovery or death; sometimes, also, a striking change of symptoms attended by an outward manifestation, as by an eruption or sweat.

Till some safe crisis authorize their skill. Dryden.

Crisp (kr?sp), a. [AS. crisp, fr. L. crispus; cf. carpere to pluck, card (wool), and E. harvest. Cf. Crape.] 1. Curling in stiff curls or ringlets; as, crisp hair.

2. Curled with the ripple of the water. [Poetic]

You nymphs called Naiads, of the winding brooks . . . Leave jour crisp channels. Shak.

3. Brittle; friable; in a condition to break with a short, sharp fracture; as, crisp snow.

The cakes at tea ate short and crisp. Goldsmith.

4. Possessing a certain degree of firmness and freshness; in a fresh, unwilted condition.

It [laurel] has been plucked nine months, and yet looks as hale and crisp as if it would last ninety years. Leigh Hunt.

5. Lively; sparking; effervescing.

Your neat crisp claret. Beau. & Fl.

6. Brisk; crackling; cheerful; lively.

The snug, small room, and the crisp fire. Dickens.

Crisp, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crisped (kr?spt); p. pr. & vb. n. Crisping.] [L. crispare, fr. crispus. See Crisp. a. ] 1. To curl; to form into ringlets, as hair, or the nap of cloth; to interweave, as the branches of trees.

2. To cause to undulate irregularly, as crape or water; to wrinkle; to cause to ripple. Cf. Crimp.

The lover with the myrtle sprays Adorns his crisped tresses. Drayton.