cradlen.
/ˈkreɪd(ə)l/ I. A bed for a young child, and related uses.
1. figurative.1600 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 2 (2nd issue) iii. i. 20 Wilt thou..rocke his braines, In cradle of the rude imperious surge. View more context for this quotation1602 J. Marston Antonios Reuenge iii. iv. sig. F3v To rock your baby thoughts in the Cradle of sleepe.1835 E. Bulwer-Lytton Rienzi I. ii. iv. 265 To rock them..in the cradle of their false security.
a. A little bed or cot for an infant: properly, one mounted on rockers, but often extended to a swing-cot, or a simple cot or basket-bed that is neither rocked nor swung.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > cot or cradle
cradlec1000
cader?c1225
crete1340
cunablesa1549
rocker1566
wicker1646
crib1649
cather?1748
cunabula1774
cot1813
co-sleeper1997
c1000 in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 124 Cunabulum, cradel.
c1230 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Corpus Cambr.) (1962) 44 Ha makeð of hire tunge cradel [?c1225 Cleo. cader] to þe deofles bearn & rockeð hit ȝeornliche as his nurrice.
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. (1810) 243 In hir credille ȝing tille Inglond scho cam.
1393 W. Langland Piers Plowman C. x. 79 Wakynge a nyghtes..to rocke þe cradel.
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 101 Credel, or cradel, crepundium.
1576 A. Fleming tr. Erasmus in Panoplie Epist. 358 The..valliaunt warriour..once..lay crying in a wicker cradle.
1674 A. Cremer tr. J. Scheffer Hist. Lapland xxvi. 123 The rocking the infant in his cradle follows next.
1748 F. Smith Voy. Discov. N.W. Passage 211 The Women carry these Cradles at their Backs, with the Child's Back to theirs.
1841 C. Dickens Old Curiosity Shop i. x. 141 He rocked the cradle with his foot.
1893 N.E.D. at Cradle Mod. Proverb, She who rocks the cradle rules the world.
b. Applied to a piece of silver plate, or the like, presented to the wife of a mayor to whom a child is born during his period of office.Originally a cradle, or the model of one, for which something else is now often substituted.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > prosperity > success > token of victory or supreme excellence > [noun] > award for merit > to mayor's wife on birth of child
cradle1863
1863 Illustr. London News 16 Jan. The Lady Mayoress of Dublin, having given birth to a child during her husband's year of office as Mayor, has been presented with a silver cradle. The gift is really a case, but on such occasions it is always termed a ‘Cradle’.
1880 M'chester City News 4 Dec. At the Annual dinner of the City Council..Alderman Pattison the ex-Mayor, was presented with a silver cradle..It is a pretty conceit, this custom of presenting a silver cradle to a chief Magistrate on the occasion of a birth in his family during his year of office.
2. In various phrases, taken as the symbol of infancy or of the first period or stage of existence; e.g. from the (first, or very) cradle, to stifle in the cradle, watch over the cradle, etc. attributive phrase cradle-to-grave. (cf. quot. 1709.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > baby or infant > [noun] > babyhood or infancy
milkeOE
barnagec1400
infancec1400
infancya1513
babeship1542
babehood1548
cradle1555
cradle-hood1599
baby agea1617
biggin1616
babyship1617
dentity1638
babyhood1748
babyism1798
paphood1837
babydom1853
infanthood1862
infantage1866
tottledom1889
toddlerhood1917
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde iii. iv. f. 110 Wherwith the stomakes of owr people..haue euer byn noorisshed euen from their cradelles.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xxxix. 187 To keepe a countenaunce farre aboue the common, euen from the first cradle.
1611 M. Smith in Bible (King James) Transl. Pref. 10 In the Latine wee haue been exercised almost from our verie cradle.
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. iv. xxxi. 159 Now this infamous treason was known..but all the difficulty was, how to stifle it in the Cradle.
1709 R. Steele Tatler No. 52. ⁋4 A modest Fellow never has a Doubt from his Cradle to his Grave.
1795 E. Burke Corr. IV. 309 To watch over the cradle of those seminaries.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. I. 12 That the Norman gentlemen were orators from the cradle.
1884 D. Hunter tr. E. Reuss Hist. Canon iv. 61 Churches whose origin goes back to the cradle of Christianity.
1943 Time 22 Mar. 13 Sir William Beveridge, author of the British ‘cradle-to-grave’ social security report.
1951 Amer. Speech 26 39 He shifts easily from such levels as cant to slang or colloquialism... While such cradle-to-grave lexicography must be impressive to the uninitiate, it may also reflect an assurance born largely of scissors and paste.
1962 C. Walsh From Utopia to Nightmare vi. 76 Everyone has cradle-to-grave security.
3. figurative. The place or region in which anything is nurtured or sheltered in its earlier stage.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > [noun] > the first part or beginning > the earliest stage(s) > place which nurtures early stage
cradle1590
swaddling-band1602
cunabula1864
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. x. sig. K6 Sith to thee is vnknowne the cradle of thy brood.
1628 E. Coke 1st Pt. Inst. Lawes Eng. Pref. Our labors are but the cradles of the law.
1734 tr. C. Rollin Anc. Hist. I. Pref. p. vii Egypt, that served at first as the cradle..to the holy nation.
1841 W. Spalding Italy & Ital. Islands I. 20 The cradle of literature and art.
1867 E. A. Freeman Hist. Norman Conquest I. vi. 448 Wessex the cradle of the royal house.
4. Applied poetically to that which serves as a couch or place of repose.
ΚΠ
1593 W. Shakespeare Venus & Adonis sig. Hv In this hollow cradle [sc. the bosom] take thy rest, My throbbing hart shall rock thee day and night. View more context for this quotation
1600 W. Shakespeare Midsummer Night's Dream iii. i. 72 Swaggring..So neere the Cradle of the Fairy Queene? View more context for this quotation
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Odyssey in Iliad & Odyssey II. iv. 506 Four cradles in the sand she scoop'd.
5. Nautical. ‘A standing bedstead for a wounded seaman, instead of a hammock’ (Crabb).
ΚΠ
1803 Naval Chron. 9 259 Captain Merville..gave him that night one of the ship's company's cradles.
1867 W. H. Smyth & E. Belcher Sailor's Word-bk.
II. Technical applications to things having the structure, appearance, use, or rocking motion of the child's cradle.† 11. The part of a crossbow on which the missile rested. Obsolete.
6. Any framework of bars, cords, rods, etc. united by lateral ties; a grating, or hurdle-like structure.† g. The bed or carriage of a cannon (quot. 1497).
a. A framework or grating placed round anything to protect it.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > protection or defence > [noun] > means of protection or defence > device or contrivance to protect a thing or person > framework
cradle1561
crib1693
1561 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. Ludlow (1869) 130 For makinge of a cradelle to goe about the steple.
1611 G. Markham Countrey Contentm. (1668) i. xvi. 78 Set a little cradle of limed straws about his seat.
1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh II. 65 You must see to the creddles..I can't have my young oaks barked.
1870 E. Peacock Ralf Skirlaugh III. 195 The iron cradle in which the warning-light had often burned.
b. A supporting framework.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > supporting framework
cradle1379
cratch1382
frame1388
brandreth1483
scaffold?1523
crate1526
bone1542
framework1578
anatomy1591
scaffoldage1609
brake1623
truss1654
skeletona1658
carcass1663
box frame1693
crib1693
scaffolding1789
staddlea1800
gantry1810
cradling1823
potence1832
ossaturea1878
tower1970
1379 in J. T. Fowler Memorials Church SS. Peter & Wilfrid, Ripon (1888) III. 103 Et de j Credel.
1664 J. Evelyn Kalendarium Hortense 65 in Sylva Carefully protect..your..Ranunculus's..covering them with Mattresses supported on cradles of hoops.
1695 W. Kennett Parochial Antiq. Gloss. at Carecta A cradle..applied to some other utensils that carry or bear any thing. As in the North, a dish-cradle, for the setting up wooden dishes or trenchers.
1823 J. Badcock Domest. Amusem. 20 These pieces of wood being placed upon moveable cradles made of hammered iron.
1879 W. Thomson & P. G. Tait Treat. Nat. Philos. (new ed.) I: Pt. i. 486 Each of the counterpoises is equal to twice the weight of one of the pulleys with its sliding cradle.
c. A frame in which glaziers carry glass; a crate of glass.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > building and constructing equipment > [noun] > window-making equipment
cradle1538
sprig1674
vice1706
sash cramp1964
1538 Aberdeen Reg. V. 16 (Jam.) Ane cradill of glass.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. viii. 280 An old Man..that carryed a cradle of glasses at his back.
1884 J. Mackintosh Hist. Civilization Scotl. III. xxix. 329 The Wemyss glass-work...The cradles contained fifteen wisps.
d. A basket-like grating or framework; a cresset.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > fact or condition of being transverse > intersection > [noun] > grating or lattice
latticea1382
trellisa1400
grate1412
trail1485
tresance1510
cradle1561
craticle1657
grillade1727
grating1739
treillage1836
grid1839
gridiron1854
1561 in T. Wright Churchwardens' Accts. Ludlow (1869) 102 For makinge a new cradle for the bere.
1665 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 1 81 The Iron-grate or Cradle that holds the burning Coals.
a1682 Sir T. Browne Certain Misc. Tracts (1683) i. 49 Men..place Cradles upon high Trees, in Marish regions, that Storks may breed upon them.
1694 Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) ii. 171 From the Water to the Cradle, (that is the round Circle that goeth round about the Middle of the Mast, and is made in the shape of a Basket).
1742 Bp. T. Wilson in J. Keble Life T. Wilson: Pt. II (1863) xxiii. 800 My proposal to dry corn-mows (by a sort of cradle perforating them to ensure ventilation).
e. A suspended scaffolding or stage used by workmen on buildings, in mines, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > work-benches, seats, etc. > [noun] > seat > for use while working aloft
boatswain's chair1856
seat-board1873
cradle1874
bosun's chair1878
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Cradle..8 A suspended scaffold used by miners.
f. Carriage-building. (See quot. 1794.)
ΚΠ
1771 Batchelor (1773) I. 256 Mr. F. mounted on the box, driving a stage coach, with Mr. P-ns-by in the cradle.
1794 W. Felton Treat. Carriages I. 145 A cradle is a leather platform, made to receive the seat.
ΚΠ
1497 in T. Dickson Accts. Treasurer Scotl. (1877) I. 348 Giffin to pynouris to bere the treis to be Mons new cradil to hir.
h. The ‘rest’ or support for a telephone receiver not in use.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > parts of telephone
induction coil1837
ferrotype1857
telephone receiver1875
mouthpiece1877
receiver1877
microphone1878
telephone trumpet1879
magneto bell1882
magneto call bella1884
rest1883
hook1885
receptor1898
telephone dial1898
ringer1899
dial1900
Button A (or B)1922
switch hook1922
phone bell1924
hybrid coil1925
cradle1929
dial wheel1938
hybrid transformer1941
scriber1968
fascia1973
1929 P.O. Electr. Engin. Jrnl. 22 193/1 With the P.O. type [of telephone set] a disconnection could only be produced when the microtelephone was replaced on the cradle in a very violent manner.
1953 J. Mortimer Like Men Betrayed x. 136 Kit put the telephone back in the cradle.
1959 D. Beaty Cone of Silence xiv. 158 The sharp click of the receiver returning to its cradle.
i. Cricket. A device used to deflect a ball thrown upon it in practising short-range fielding.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > cricket > equipment > [noun] > practice equipment
net1845
cradle1934
1934 Times 1 May 6/5 Slip catches were flying off the cradle and there was fielding practice.
7. Agriculture. A light frame of wood attached to a scythe, having a row of long curved teeth parallel to the blade, to lay the corn more evenly in the swathe; ‘a three forked instrument of wood on which the corn is caught as it falls from the sithe’ ( Tusser Redivivus 1710).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > cradle
cradle1573
rifle1573
scythe-cradle1695
grain-cradle1824
crete1887
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 15v A cradle for barley, with rubstone & sand.
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 51 Corne Sythes have allwayes cradles for carryinge of the corne handsomely to the Swheathbalke.
1677 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Oxford-shire 255 Which [barley] they mow with a sithe without a cradle.
1742 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Aug. xii. 44 Barley..is mown by the Scythe and Cradle.
c1818 Mrs. Carey Tour in France (1823) i. 15 The scythes..are very light, with a little cradle attached.
a1862 H. D. Thoreau Yankee in Canada (1866) iii. 57 Wishing to learn if they used the cradle..I set up the knives and forks on the blade of the sickle to represent one.
8.
a. Surgery. A protecting framework of different kinds for an injured limb, etc. (a) A series of arches of wire or wood, connected by longitudinal strips, to sustain the pressure of the bedclothes. (b) A framework in which an injured limb may be slung.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical supports > [noun] > cradle for injured limb
solen1693
cradle1705
Balkan frame1916
the world > health and disease > healing > medical appliances or equipment > surgical supports > [noun] > cradle to support bed-clothes
solen1693
cradle1705
1705 F. Fuller Medicina Gymnastica 52 The sick Person may at once enjoy the Convenience of a Cradle.
1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) (at cited word) A Surgeon's Cradle..to lay a broken Leg in.
1847 J. F. South tr. Chelius Syst. Surg. I. 511 For the more effectual cooling of the limb a cradle should be kept over it.
1871 T. Holmes Syst. Surg. (ed. 2) V. 886 The limb is then slung in a simple cradle.
1883 Braithwaite Retrospect Med. LXXXVI. 167 The cradles for the knee and ankle are made of wood.
b. A frame placed round the neck of an animal to prevent its biting an injury or sore.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > animal husbandry > general equipment > [noun] > restraining frame
yoke-stick1483
yoke1512
poker1805
poke1809
yoke-skey1817
cradle1831
1831 W. Youatt Horse xviii. 323 The possibility of blemishing himself should be prevented by a cradle or wooden necklace, consisting of round strips of wood, strung together, reaching from the lower jaw to the chest.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 206/2 Cradle, a frame encircling the neck of a horse.
9. Nautical. The framework on which a ship rests during construction or repairs, and on which she slides at launching. Also, that in which a vessel lies in a way or slip, or in a canal-lift (cf. coffer n. 9); and other analogous applications.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > shipbuilding and repairing > [noun] > slip on which ships built or repaired > framework on which vessel rests
stocks1422
trestle1612
cradle1627
boat cradle1829
gridiron1846
skid1856
grid1867
crib1883
1627 J. Smith Sea Gram. i. 1 A cradel is a frame of timber, made along a ship..for the more ease and safty in lanching.
1769 W. Falconer Universal Dict. Marine at Coites The ways, or cradles, upon which a ship..descends, when she is..launched.
1775 N. D. Falck Philos. Diss. Diving Vessel 50 There are different kinds of cradles..made use of for weighing of vessels; one sort is made of four cables of equal length.
1817 Edinb. Monthly Mag. 1 547/1 The Kent, of 80 guns, was..securely placed in a cradle for repair.
1852 S. C. Brees Gloss. Pract. Archit. 126 Cradle, or Coffer, the framework employed in perpendicular lifts, for holding the boats, and conveying them from one pond to the other.
1879 Cassell's Techn. Educator (new ed.) IV. 223/2 The ‘cradles’ must be fitted..between the bottom of the ship and the slidingway.
10. An appliance in which a person or thing is swung or carried.
a. The apparatus in which a person is drawn from a wreck to a place of safety.
ΘΚΠ
the world > action or operation > safety > rescue or deliverance > [noun] > means of > means of saving life > from ship or drowning
plank1608
cradle1839
plug1841
anchor ball1858
breeches-buoy1880
Lyle gun1880
life gun1910
Schermuly1922
1839 36 Years of Seafaring life 268 They hauled the lines in..the cradle [was] sent along, and by this means thirteen persons were saved.
b. ‘A machine made of stout sail-cloth, for the purpose of shipping and unshipping horses’ (Crabb Techn. Dict. 1823).
ΚΠ
1721– in N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict.
12. Architecture and Building. (See quots.; also coffer n. 5a.)
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society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > architecture > other elements > [noun] > sunk panel
coffer1664
lunette1722
cradle1823
lacunars1823
coffering1845
cassoon1850
lunetta1898
caisson-
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Cradle (Archit.) vide Coffer.
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 958 Cradle, a name sometimes given to a centering of ribs and lattice for turning culverts.
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Cradle (Carpentry), the rough framework or bracketing forming ribbing for vaulting ceilings and arches intended to be covered with plaster.
13. Engraving. A chisel-like tool with a serrated edge, which is ‘rocked’ to and fro over the surface of the metal plate, to produce a mezzotint ground.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > visual arts > printmaking > engraving > intaglio printing > [noun] > mezzotint > tools
scraper1747
cradle1788
grounding-tool?1790
rocking tool1841
rocker1875
1788–9 G. S. Howard New Royal Encycl. I. 619 Cradle, among engravers, is the name of an instrument used in scraping mezzotintos and preparing the plate.
1860 R. Hunt Ure's Dict. Arts (ed. 5) II. 139 This operation is called laying the ground; it is performed by rocking the cradle to and fro.
1883 J. C. Smith Brit. Mezzotinto Portr. iv. ii. p. xxiii The instruments used in mezzotinto engraving consist of the cradle, or rocking-tool, the scraper, etc.
14. Gold-mining. A trough on rockers in which auriferous earth or sand is shaken in water, in order to separate and collect the gold.
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society > occupation and work > equipment > equipment for treating ores > [noun] > for washing ore > for gold
scour1619
rocker1828
cradle1833
pan1835
Long Tom1839
Tom1839
wash-bowl1848
gold washer1849
sluice1851
wash-pan1851
tub1853
gold pan1854
mining pan1858
pan mill1869
Tommy1892
1833 H. Barnard in Maryland Hist. Mag. 13 347 The gravel is washed, by being thrown into what is called a rocker, or cradle.
1849 Illustr. London News 17 Nov. 325/1 (Let. fr. Gold Diggings) Two men can keep each other steadily at work, the one digging and carrying the earth in a bucket, and the other washing and rocking the cradle.
1852 J. L. Motley Let. 23 Dec. in Corr. (1889) I. v. 146 Whether I shall at last find a few grains of pure gold in my cradle.
1883 Cent. Mag. Jan. The Cradle or rocker is the rudest..of all machines for the separation of gold.
15. See cat's-cradle n.
Compounds
General attributive. C1. General:
a. Attributive.
(a) (In sense 1.) † cradle-clout n. Obsolete
cradle-babe n.
ΚΠ
a1616 W. Shakespeare Henry VI, Pt. 2 (1623) iii. ii. 396 As milde and gentle as the Cradle-babe . View more context for this quotation
cradle-bed n.
ΚΠ
1825 M. M. Sherwood Lady of Manor (ed. 2) III. xvii. 275 She took her little infant..and laid her asleep..upon the cradle-bed.
1868 Ld. Houghton Sel. from Wks. 210 Beside the downy cradle-bed.
cradle-child n.
ΚΠ
OE Wulfstan Sermo ad Anglos (Nero) xxxiii. 158 Cradolcild geþeowode þurh wælhreowe unlaȝa.
1832 J. Bree St. Herbert's Isle 55 Though a cradle~child misfortune threw me on the shoals of life.
cradle-clothes n.
ΚΠ
1598 W. Shakespeare Henry IV, Pt. 1 i. i. 87 That some night tripping fairy had exchang'd, In cradle clothes our children where they lay. View more context for this quotation
cradle-dream n.
ΚΠ
1845 G. Murray Islaford 55 The Bethlehem-song that hushed our cradle-dreams.
cradle-fellow n.
ΚΠ
1847 M. M. Sherwood in Life xxxi. 538 With him who had been my cradle-fellow.
cradle-head n.
ΚΠ
1864 Ld. Tennyson Sea Dreams 277 The woman..half embraced the basket cradle-head.
cradle-life n.
ΚΠ
1884 P. Schaff et al. Relig. Encycl. III. 2138 Christian art in Rome, where it had its cradle-life.
cradle-melody n.
ΚΠ
1851 D. Jerrold St. Giles & St. James (new ed.) x, in Writings I. 100 It had been a cradle melody to him.
cradle-necessaries n.
ΚΠ
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Cradle necessaries, or all thinges pertaynyng to the swathlynge of Infantes.
cradle-practise n.
ΚΠ
1632 P. Massinger Emperour of East iv. iii. sig. I2 The cure of the goute..without boast bee it said, my cradle practise.
cradle-side n.
ΚΠ
1888 Ohio Archæol. & Hist. Quarterly June 105 Nations now gather to the cradleside of any new-born thought.
cradle-throne n.
ΚΠ
1846 J. Keble Lyra Innocentium 97 That Saint..Who to Jesus' cradle-throne Led us first.
cradle-time n.
ΚΠ
1586 W. Warner Albions Eng. i. iii. 9 Of Hercules: whose famous acts..the first, but not the least In Cradle-time befell.
1868 J. G. Whittier Among Hills xli As free as if from cradle-time We two had played together.
cradle-tune n.
ΚΠ
1880 Contemp. Rev. Mar. 417 Ears whose cradle-tune had been the beat Of ocean-waves.
(b) (In sense 7.)
cradle-bar n.
b. Objective.
cradle-dealer n.
ΚΠ
1838 J. Grant Sketches London 333 To the profession of a cradle dealer.
cradle-keeper n.
ΚΠ
1610 J. Healey tr. J. L. Vives in tr. St. Augustine Citie of God iv. viii. 164 Cunina. The cradle-keeper and wich-chaser.
cradle-plunderer n.
ΚΠ
1864 W. Whitby Amer. Slav. 187 We have..cradle-plunderers for church members.
cradle-robber n.
ΚΠ
1920 S. Lewis Main St. xxxii. 389 Darned if this bunch of cradle-robbers didn't get hold of some young kids.
cradle-rocker n.
c. Locative.† cradle place n. Obsolete
ΚΠ
1548 N. Udall et al. tr. Erasmus Paraphr. Newe Test. I. Luke f. 190v An infaunte in the cradle place.
cradle-sworn adj.
ΚΠ
1891 Blackwood's Edinb. Mag. Oct. 547 A cradle-sworn conspiracy To set the world awry.
cradle-tombed adj.
ΚΠ
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. ii. 426 One in the feeble birth, becomming old, Is cradle-toomb'd.
C2. Special combinations.† cradle-band n. (also cradle-bands) Obsolete swaddling cloth, or bands.† cradle-barn n. Obsolete cradle-child.† cradle-chimney n. Obsolete (see quot.).† cradle-piece n. Obsolete a piece cut out of a quill in making a pen. † cradle-tooth n. Obsolete a rib of the cradle of a scythe.† cradle-walk n. Obsolete a garden walk over-arched with clipped yew or the like.† cradle-witted adj. Obsolete having the wits of an infant.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [noun] > for specific people > for children > for a baby > swaddling clothes
sweddlec725
cloutc1175
wind-cloutc1175
swaddlebandc1200
swath-bandsc1315
swath-cloutsc1325
sweddle-cloutc1325
clothesc1340
swathing-clouts1375
swathing-clothesa1382
cradle-band1398
swaddling-banda1400
sweddle-banda1400
swaddle-bind1467
swathing-banda1500
swaddling-clouts1530
swaddling-clothes1535
swaddle1538
swathe1565
sweilling clais1567
swaddle-belt1592
bandel1598
swaddlings1623
swaddle-binding1653
roller1656
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vi. ix. 195 The nouryce bindeth the chylde togyders wyth cradylbondes.
?a1500 Nominale (Yale Beinecke 594) in T. Wright & R. P. Wülcker Anglo-Saxon & Old Eng. Vocab. (1884) I. 794/1 Hec fassia, credylbond.
1552 R. Huloet Abcedarium Anglico Latinum Cradle bande, instita.
ΚΠ
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 1912 He..made hem rowte Als he weren kradelbarnes.
cradle-board n. among North American Indians a board to which an infant is strapped; also attributive.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > types of bed > [noun] > cot or cradle > used by North American Indians
moss-bag1865
cradle-board1879
1879 Jrnl. Anthropol. Inst. 8 341 Cranial modification adopted by the Chinooks and other Flat-head Indians..may be confidently ascribed to the undesigned pressure of the cradle-board on a head of brachycephalic type.
1942 Antiquity 16 94 It [sc. a skull] belongs to a woman 30 to 35 years old, and shows cradle-board flattening.
1956 E. Wilson Red, Black, Blond & Olive i. 49 A baby on a ‘cradle-board’. Wrapped up and strapped to this wooden back, the children can be laid down to sleep or stood up against the wall.
cradle-books n. = incunabula n. 2.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > book > kind of book > early printed book(s) > [noun]
fifteener1830
incunabula1861
incunable1886
cradle-books1902
1902 Daily Chron. 7 Nov. 3/3 The whole of this second volume is devoted to Incunabula—the ‘Cradle books’—the first fruits of the early presses.
1927 Publishers' Weekly 31 Dec. 2315/1 Black letter books and cradle books.
cradle-cannon n. Billiards a series of cannons with the two object-balls close on either side of a corner-pocket.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > entertainment > pastimes > game > billiards, pool, or snooker > [noun] > actions or types of play > type of stroke
hazard1674
carambole1775
carom1779
cannon1802
screw1825
sidestroke1834
following stroke1837
cannonade1844
five-stroke1847
follow1850
scratch1850
fluke1857
jenny1857
bank shot1859
angle shot1860
draw shot1860
six-stroke1861
run-through1862
spot1868
quill1869
dead-stroke1873
loser1873
push1873
push stroke1873
stab1873
stab screw1873
draw1881
force1881
plant1884
anchor cannon1893
massé1901
angle1902
cradle-cannon1907
pot1907
jump shot1909
carry-along1913
snooker1924
1907 Westm. Gaz. 6 Mar. 10/1 The ‘cradle-cannon’ has been responsible for another extraordinary break.
1910 Encycl. Brit. III. 936/2 The ‘cradle-double-kiss’ or ‘anchor’ cannon.
cradle cap n. Originally U.S., an area of yellowish or brownish greasy-looking scales that sometimes forms on the top of a baby's head; the condition of having this, seborrhœic eczema of the scalp in a baby.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of visible parts > skin disorders > [noun] > eczema
eczema1753
grocers' itch1799
washerwoman's itch1844
Paget's disease1880
cradle cap1890
weeping eczema1899
1890 J. S. Billings National Med. Dict. I. 342/2 Cradle-cap, crusts of seborrhœa on heads of young infants.
1912 A. M. Alberty Truth about Baby xviii. 94 There will appear on the infant's head a heavy, scaly-looking substance commonly called the ‘cradle cap’.
1932 F. H. Bartlett Infants & Children xviii. 372 Use oil instead of soap and water on the scalp until ‘cradlecap’ has been cleared.
1944 A. Bundesen & B. Bundesen Baby Man. ii. 259 A crust called ‘cradle cap’ may form on the head.
1975 H. Jolly Bk. Child Care xxxi. 400 Cradle cap may appear on the heads of the best-washed babies.
cradle Catholic n. one who is born into the Roman Catholic church; a Catholic ‘from the cradle’.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > sect > Christianity > Roman Catholicism > person > [noun] > born
cradle Catholic1952
1952 R. Macaulay Let. 25 July (1961) 342 The very nice, intelligent, cradle-Catholic talks Controller at the B.B.C.
1965 Guardian 10 Feb. 8/3 She and her three brothers..were all cradle Catholics, her grandparents having come into the Church.
ΚΠ
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. Cradle-Chimlay, the name given to the large grate, of an oblong form, open at all sides..which is used in what is called a round-about fireside.
cradle-drill n. a rock-drill supported on a cradle-like trough.
ΚΠ
1884 R. Hunt Brit. Mining 526 A single-acting cradle-drill mounted on a stretcher bar for sinking shafts.
cradle-gate n. a kissing-gate.
ΚΠ
1903 Standard 26 Nov. 5/6 A cradle gate for foot passengers and a larger gate for vehicular traffic.
cradle-heap n. U.S. a hillock formed by the fallen trunk of a tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > hillock > type of
sheeling-hill1597
parley hill1641
parle hill1664
risbank1665
cradle-heap1830
cradle-hill1855
reef knoll1890
cradle-knoll1897
sheeling-mound1911
1830 J. Galt Lawrie Todd I. iii. ii. 186 It was then but the mere blazed line of what was to be a road; stumps and cradle heaps, mud-holes and miry swails, succeeded one another.
cradle-hill n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > hillock > type of
sheeling-hill1597
parley hill1641
parle hill1664
risbank1665
cradle-heap1830
cradle-hill1855
reef knoll1890
cradle-knoll1897
sheeling-mound1911
1855 T. C. Haliburton Nature & Human Nature II. xii. 374 The bye-road was so full of stumps and cradle-hills, it was impossible to drive in it.
cradle-holding n. a name for land held in Borough-English n.
ΚΠ
1882 F. Pollock in Macmillan's Mag. 46 360 (note) The land is known..as cradle-holding in some parts of the south.
cradle-hole n. U.S. a depression in a road; also a spot from which the frost is melting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > water > ice > body of ice > [noun] > flaw, crack, rut, or hollow
cradle-hole1854
fault1860
1854 H. D. Thoreau Walden 316 Deep ruts and ‘cradle holes’ were worn in the ice.
cradle-joint n. a joint allowing something to swing or oscillate.
ΚΠ
1854 J. Hogg Microscope i. iii. 63 A small tube, connected to a stout pin by means of a cradle-joint.
cradle-knoll n. U.S. a small knoll, as on a logging road.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > landscape > high land > rising ground or eminence > [noun] > hillock > type of
sheeling-hill1597
parley hill1641
parle hill1664
risbank1665
cradle-heap1830
cradle-hill1855
reef knoll1890
cradle-knoll1897
sheeling-mound1911
1897 R. E. Robinson Uncle Lisha's Outing v. 32 There were moss-covered cradle-knolls and mouldering trunks of the old trees whose uprooting had formed them.
1969 L. G. Sorden Lumberjack Lingo 28 Cradle knolls, small knolls or mounds of earth that require grading in the construction of logging roads.
cradle-land n. the land in which a people dwell in their earliest times.
ΚΠ
1872 J. Yeats Growth Commerce 37 The position of Egypt between the cradle lands of the human race and the African continent.
cradle-man n. one who uses a cradle-scythe, a cradler.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > cutting, reaping, or mowing > reaper or mower
reapmanOE
reaperOE
mower1225
shearer1318
puller1332
winner1352
repstera1450
harvestman1552
scytheman1577
harvester1589
sickler1638
messor1656
cradler1766
grass mower1779
thraver1813
reapa1825
bagger1844
cradle-man1889
1889 P. A. Bruce Plantation Negro 197 Cradlemen, ditchers, assorters of tobacco are paid higher for the same..time.
ΚΠ
1727 W. Mather Young Man's Compan. (ed. 13) 76 Enter your Knife sloping..about twice the breadth of the Quill..and cut away the Cradle-piece.
Categories »
cradle-printing-machine n. ‘a printing machine in which the cylinder has only a half revolution, which gives it a rocking or cradle-like motion’ (Ogilvie).
cradle-rocker n. (a) = rocker n.1 3; (b) one who rocks a child's cradle; similarly
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > action of putting or lulling to sleep > in a specific way > one who
rockster1377
luller14..
cradle-rocker1795
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > furniture and fittings > bed > parts of bed > [noun] > rocker of cradle
cradle-rocker1795
1795 S. J. Pratt Gleanings through Wales I. vi. 53 The little cradle-rocker, was singing a lullaby to the suckling.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. iii. 30 The cradle-rockers had done hard duty for so many years, under the weight of so many children, on that flagstone floor, that they were worn nearly flat.
1907 Daily Chron. 28 Aug. 6/7 How many of the cradle-rockers would gladly help to emancipate their sisters, but cannot.
cradle-rocking n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [noun] > action of putting or lulling to sleep > in a specific way
byssing1440
cradle-rocking1878
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > oscillation > [noun] > rocking > rocking a cradle
cradle-rocking1878
1878 Design & Work 16 Feb. 213/3 Cradle-Rocking... An American invention for rocking a cradle.
1891 T. Hardy Tess of the D'Urbervilles I. iii. 28 The cradle-rocking and the song would cease simultaneously for a moment.
cradle-roof n. a roof, in shape like a half cylinder, divided into panels by wooden ribs.
ΘΚΠ
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > roof > [noun] > types of roof generally
vaulta1387
plat-roofa1425
pend1454
faunsere1460
compassed roofa1552
terrace1572
sotie1578
crown1588
arch-roof1594
arch1609
under-roof1611
concameration1644
voltoa1660
hip roof1663
French roof1669
oversail1673
jerkinhead1703
mansard1704
curb-roof1733
shed roof1736
gable roof1759
gambrel roof1761
living roof1792
pent roof1794
span-roof1823
wagon-head1823
azotea1824
rafter roof1825
rooflet1825
wagon-vault1835
bell-roof1842
spire-roof1842
cradle-roof1845
packsaddle roof1845
open roof1847
umbrella roof1847
gambrel1848
packsaddle1848
compass-roof1849
saddleback1849
saddle roof1850
curbed roof1866
wagon-roof1866
saw-tooth roof1900
trough roof1905
skillion roof1911
north-light roof1923
shell roof1954
green roof1984
knee-roof-
1845 Ecclesiologist 4 282 The cradle roof of the chancel still remains; some of the bosses are very good.
1867 W. Papworth Gwilt's Encycl. Archit. (rev. ed.) ii. iii. 614 The framing of cradle roofs, with king-posts carried upon..the tie-beams.
cradle-scale n. ‘a pair of scales for weighing sacks of corn in a mill’ (Evans Leicestersh. Gloss.).
cradle-scythe n. a scythe fitted with a cradle (in sense 7).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > harvesting equipment > [noun] > reaping tools > scythe > types of
brush-scythe1573
grass scythe1573
cradle-scythe1669
crather1688
bushwhacker1858
1669 J. Worlidge Dict. Rusticum in Systema Agric. A Cradle is a Frame of Wood fixed to a Sythe for the mowing of Corn..it is then called a Cradle-sythe.
1822 J. Flint Lett. from Amer. 99 The axe, the pick-axe, and the cradle-scythe.
cradle-snatch v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > love affair > have affectionate or sexual relationship [verb (intransitive)] > cradle-snatch
cradle-snatch1938
1938 D. Smith Dear Octopus iii. i. 98 I may be neurotic but I've never cradle-snatched my brother-in-law.
1967 J. Aiken Ribs of Death i. 11 I don't usually cradlesnatch. But there was something about you that made me think you were older.
cradle-snatcher n. slang (originally U.S.) one who weds, or is enamoured of, a much younger person.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > love affair > [noun] > activity of a cradle-snatcher > one who cradle-snatches
baby-snatcher1857
cradle-snatcher1925
Mrs Robinson1970
1925 N.Y. Times 8 Sept. 2/2 ‘Cradle Snatchers’ is concerned with the activities of three wives.
1965 ‘R. Erskine’ Passion Flowers in Business xi. 142 Crispin asked me to dance. ‘Cradle-snatcher,’ said Miranda nastily.
cradle-snatching n.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > love > love affair > [noun] > activity of a cradle-snatcher
baby-snatching1857
cradle-snatching1933
1933 E. A. Robertson Ordinary Families viii. 189 Our jokes..were generally about cradle-snatching, because Dru was two years older than Basil.
1958 J. Osborne & A. Creighton Epit. for George Dillon i. 26 So you've taken to cradle-snatching, have you. Not content with taking another woman's husband, you have to pick up a ‘young gentleman’ as well.
cradle-song n. a song sung to a child in the cradle, a lullaby.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > the arts > music > type of music > vocal music > types of song > [noun] > lullaby
cradle-song1398
lulling1398
lullaby1592
balow1619
dormitory1656
berceuse1876
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vi. iv. 19 Nouryces vse lullynges and other cradyl songes to pleyse the wyttes of the chylde.
1889 Spectator 9 Nov. 636/1 It is remarkable..that Watts, who was a bachelor, has written the loveliest cradle-song in the language.
ΚΠ
a1642 H. Best Farming & Memorandum Bks. (1984) 127 The smallest sorte of them for harrowe-spindles, some for Cradle-teeth, and some..for plough-staffes.
cradle-vault n. (see quot. and cf. cradle-roof n.).
ΚΠ
1842 J. Gwilt Encycl. Archit. Gloss. 958 Cradle Vault, a term used, but improperly, to denote a cylindric vault.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > gardening > garden > division or part of garden > [noun] > walk > covered walk
porticus1617
portico1666
cradle-walka1684
society > travel > means of travel > route or way > way, path, or track > path or place for walking > [noun] > foot(-)path > in a garden or pleasure-ground > shaded or bordered by trees
alleyc1405
arbour1573
walk1596
porticus1617
frescade1656
pergola?1664
portico1666
cradle-walka1684
berceau1699
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1662 (1955) III. 324 The Cradle Walk of horne-beame in the Garden, is for the perplexed twining of the Trees, very observable.
1751 Mem. Lady of Quality in T. Smollett Peregrine Pickle III. lxxxviii. 110 A garden, laid out in a cradle-walk, and intervening parterres.
ΚΠ
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1593) ii. sig. V3 Who..Though cradle witted, must not honnor loose.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
cradlev.
/ˈkreɪd(ə)l/ 1. figurative.1659 R. Lovelace Poems (1864) 207 Ere the morn cradles the moon.1800 T. Moore tr. Anacreon Odes iv. 6 Let me have a silver bowl, Where I may cradle all my soul.
a. transitive. To lay or place in, or as in, a cradle; to rock to sleep.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > placing or fact of being placed in (a) position > place or put in a position [verb (transitive)] > in a corner, recess, or nook
cornera1387
cradlea1400
niche1710
ensconce1820
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > bed related to sleep or rest > put in bed or provide a bed for [verb (transitive)] > in or as in a cradle
cradlea1400
the world > physical sensation > sleeping and waking > sleep > [verb (transitive)] > put to or cause to sleep > induce or lull to sleep > by rocking
cradlea1400
rockc1400
a1400–50 Alexander 1707 The catyfest creatur þat credylytt was euer.
1693 N. Tate tr. Juvenal in J. Dryden et al. tr. Juvenal Satires xv. 304 Convey'd to earth, and Cradled in a Tomb.
1741 Mem. Martinus Scriblerus iii. 13 in A. Pope Wks. II He shall be cradled in my Ancient Shield.
1856 E. Capern Poems (ed. 2) 10 We'll cradle up our infant child, And take our evening's ramble.
1864 Ld. Tennyson Sea Dreams 57 The babe..cradled near them, wail'd and woke The mother.
b. To receive or hold as a cradle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being internal > containing or having within > contain or have within [verb (transitive)] > as in a cup or cradle
cup1838
cradle1872
1872 J. G. Holland Marble Prophecy 82 For the manger of Bethlehem cradles a king.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > place > position or situation > be positioned or situated [verb (intransitive)] > in a snug or sheltered manner
cradlea1616
niche1778
nestle1842
a1616 W. Shakespeare Tempest (1623) i. ii. 467 Wither'd roots, and huskes Wherein the Acorne cradled . View more context for this quotation
3.
a. transitive. To nurture, shelter, or rear in infancy, or in the earliest stage.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > upbringing > [verb (transitive)]
i-teon975
forthbringc1000
forthwiseOE
nourishc1300
nurshc1325
feedc1330
updraw1390
uprearc1400
educate1445
norrya1450
nurturea1450
to bring up1484
endue1526
nuzzle1558
rear1558
nurse1584
to breed up1611
cradle1613
breed1650
raise1744
rare1798
mud1814
to fetch up1841
rise1843
the world > relative properties > order > order, sequence, or succession > beginning > begin with [verb (transitive)] > nurture in earliest stage
cradle1797
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 34 Cain..cradled yet in his fathers houshold.
1797 E. Burke Remarks Policy Allies in Three Memorials on French Affairs 197 A commonwealth in a manner cradled in war.
1840 T. Hood Up Rhine 176 The house that cradled Prince Metternich.
1856 R. A. Vaughan Hours with Mystics (1860) I. 165 A fear in which they have been cradled.
1865 Union Rev. 3 263 Wesleyan Methodism, if not born, was cradled in Lincolnshire.
b. to cradle into: to rock or lull into; to nurture into from the cradle.
ΚΠ
1819 P. B. Shelley Julian & Maddalo 545 Most wretched men Are cradled into poetry by wrong.
1833 T. Chalmers On Power of God (1835) I. iv. 177 The conscience is cradled into a state of stupefaction.
4. Agriculture. To mow (corn, etc.) with a cradle-scythe. Also absol. (dialect craddle.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > harvest (a crop) [verb (transitive)] > reap or mow a crop > mow with scythe
moweOE
swinge1573
cradle1746
skim1831
scythe1892
1746 W. Ellis Agric. Improv'd II. Aug. vii. 61 The Art of cradling Corn.
1835 Tait's Edinb. Mag. New Ser. 2 149 A rye field..which he had..let to be craddled.
1838 N. Hawthorne Amer. Note-bks. (1883) 153 A man with a cradle over his shoulder, having been cradling oats.
1856 F. L. Olmsted Journey Slave States 203 One quarter of an acre a day was secured for each able hand engaged in cradling, raking, and binding.
5.
a. To set or support, in or on a cradle; to raise a boat or ship to a higher level by a cradle.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [verb (transitive)] > place (a thing) on for support > on a framework
cradle1775
rack1855
trestle1879
society > travel > travel by water > propelling other than by sail or oars > propel boat other than by sail or oars [verb (transitive)] > raise by cradle
cradle1874
1775 N. D. Falck Philos. Diss. Diving Vessel 50 A method that promises better success..namely, cradling the object.
1823 W. Scoresby Jrnl. Voy. Northern Whale-fishery 305 The ship being firmly cradled upon the tongues of ice.
1874 E. H. Knight Amer. Mech. Dict. I. 641/1 The locks are insufficient or absent, and boats are cradled and transported over the grade.
b. spec. To replace (a telephone receiver) on its ‘cradle’ or ‘rest’.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > communicate with by telephone [verb (transitive)] > replace receiver
to put down1904
cradle1956
1956 R. Fuller Image of Society viii. 211 Rose cradled the receiver with the mingled disappointment and relief of the thwarted telephonist.
1969 ‘R. Stark’ Blackbird (1970) ix. 56 ‘I wouldnt have believed it,’ Ken said, and cradled the phone.
6. To support the back of (a picture, panel, etc.) by longitudinal ribs and transverse slips.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > support > [verb (transitive)] > with a framework
crib1861
cradle1880
1880 Webster's Dict. Suppl. s.v. To cradle a picture.
1891 Pall Mall Gaz. 24 Aug. 2/1 The panel was cradled—that is, narrow pieces of mahogany were fixed..down the back of the panel, and these were cross-hatched with other slips..The cradling makes it difficult for the panel to warp.
7. To wash (auriferous gravel) in a miner's cradle. Also with out: To extract by cradling. Also absol. and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > wash or stream > for gold
rock1825
pan1832
cradle1852
puddle1852
sluice1859
to wash up1869
yandy1937
to rock out1966
1852 G. B. Earp Gold Colonies Austral. 144 All occupations, other than digging and cradling, are..reserved for Sunday.
1860 O. W. Holmes Elsie Venner 188 I don't doubt there is some truth in the phenomena of animal magnetism; but when you ask me to cradle for it, I tell you that the hysteric girls cheat so, etc.
1902 Daily Chron. 10 Sept. 5/2 The hand of the old fossicker who ‘cradled’ out the first few grains of gold among the Californian sierras in '47.
8. Coopering. To cut a cask in two lengthwise.
ΚΠ
1874 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Cradling, cutting a cask in two lengthwise, in order to allow it to pass through a doorway or hatchway, the parts being afterwards united and rehooped.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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