Part 2614

<p><b>2.</b> <def>Cross; peevish.</def> <mark>[Prov. Eng.]</mark>

<i>Halliwell.</i>

<h1>Crotchet</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Crotch"et</hw> <tt>(kr?ch"?t; 224)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[F. <ets>crochet</ets>, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source as <ets>croc</ets> hook. See <er>Crook</er>, and cf. <er>Crochet</er>, <er>Crocket</er>, <er>Crosier</er>.]</ety> <p><b>1.</b> <def>A forked support; a crotch.</def>

<blockquote>The <b>crotchets</b> of their cot in columns rise. <i>Dryden.</i></blockquote>

<p><b>2.</b> <fld>(Mus.)</fld> <def>A time note, with a stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note.</def>

<p><b>3.</b> <fld>(Fort.)</fld> <def>An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.</def>

<p><b>4.</b> <fld>(Mil.)</fld> <def>The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.</def>

<p><b>5.</b> <fld>(Print.)</fld> <def>A bracket. See <er>Bracket</er>.</def>

<p><b>6.</b> <fld>(Med.)</fld> <def>An instrument of a hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a fetus.</def>

<i>Dunglison.</i>

<p><b>7.</b> <def>A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit.</def>

<blockquote>He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by <b>crotchets</b> that he could never explain to any rational man. <i>De Quincey.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Crotchet</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Crotch"et</hw>, <tt>v. i.</tt> <def>To play music in measured time.</def> <mark>[Obs.]</mark>

<i>Donne.</i>

<h1>Crotcheted</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Crotch"et*ed</hw>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Marked or measured by crotchets; having musical notation.</def>

<i>Harmar (1587).</i>

<h1>Crotchetiness</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Crotch"et*i*ness</hw> <tt>(kr?ch"?t-?-n?s)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <def>The state or character of being crotchety, or whimsical.</def>

<blockquote>This belief in rightness is a kind of conscientiousness, and when it degenerates it becomes <b>crotchetiness</b>. <i>J. Grote.</i></blockquote>

<h1>Crotchety</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Crotch"et*y</hw> <tt>(kr?ch"?t-?)</tt>, <tt>a.</tt> <def>Given to crotchets; subject to whims; <as>as, a <ex>crotchety</ex> man</as>.</def>

<h1>Croton</h1> <Xpage=349>

<hw>Cro"ton</hw> <tt>(kr?"t?n)</tt>, <tt>n.</tt> <ety>[Gr. <?/<?/<?/<?/, prop., a tick, which the seed of the croton resembles.]</ety> <fld>(Bot.)</fld> <def>A genus of euphorbiaceous plants belonging to tropical countries.</def>

<cs><col>Croton oil</col> <fld>(Med.)</fld>, <cd>a viscid, acrid, brownish yellow oil obtained from the seeds of <spn>Croton Tiglium</spn>, a small tree of the East Indies. It is a most powerful drastic cathartic, and is used externally as a pustulant.</cd></cs>

<h1>Croton bug</h1> <Xpage=349>