crown.1
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ/ 1.
a. A bird of the genus Corvus; in England commonly applied to the Carrion Crow ( Corvus Corone), ‘a large black bird that feeds upon the carcasses of beasts’ (Johnson); in the north of England, Scotland, and Ireland to the Rook, C. frugilegus; in U.S. to a closely allied gregarious species, C. americanus.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun]
crowa700
choughc1305
crakec1320
chewet1546
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus
crowa700
crakec1320
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus > corvus corane (carrion crow)
crowa700
crakec1320
carrion crow1528
gorcrow1607
carre-crow1611
blackneb1828
flesh-crow1885
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > genus Corvus > corvus frugilegus (rook)
crowa700
rookeOE
crakec1320
parson bird1902
a700 Epinal Gloss. 241 Cornacula, crauuae.
a800 Erfurt Gl. 308 Cornix, crauua.
a800 Corpus Gl. 401 Carula, crauue.
a800 Corpus Gl. 538 Cornix, crawe.
c1000 Spelman Psalms (Trin. MS.) cxlvi. 10 (Bosw.) Se selþ nytenum mete heora, and briddum crawan cigendum hine.
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 1130 Pinnuc goldfinch rok ne crowe Ne dar þar never cumen.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. i. 437/196 Blake foule..Ase it crowene and rokes weren.
1382 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) Gen. viii. 7 Noe..sente out a crow.
1486 Bk. St. Albans D ij a A Roke or a Crow or a Reuyn.
1553 R. Eden tr. S. Münster Treat. Newe India sig. Cvj The Priestes take the meate that is left, & geue it to the crowes to eate.
1575 T. Churchyard 1st Pt. Chippes f. 9 v They wyiht they had, at home bin keaping Crooes.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Macbeth (1623) iii. ii. 51 Light thickens, And the Crow makes Wing toth' Rookie Wood. View more context for this quotation
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 76 Rooks are sociable birds, living in vast flocks; crows only go in pairs.
1819 W. Cobbett Year's Resid. U.S.A. ii. xii. 261 They keep in flocks, like rooks, (called crows in America).
1842 Ld. Tennyson Locksley Hall in Poems (new ed.) II. 99 As the many-winter'd crow that leads the clanging rookery home.
1885 C. Swainson Provinc. Names Brit. Birds 86 Crow is common to rook and carrion crow alike.
b. figurative.
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1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte To Gentl. Acquaint. sig. Fv There is an vpstart Crow, beautified with our feathers.
a1634 J. Day Peregrinatio Scholastica (Sloane 3150) f. 16v The devill..sends this black Crowe, Anger, to plucke out his ey.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Richard II xxxvi, in Poems (1878) III. 146 The Citty Crowes Assemble, and Resolve they would keep out..his ragged rout.
2. With qualifications, as hooded crow n., Kentish crow n., Royston crow n. Corvus Cornix. red-legged crow n. C. Graculus. fish crow n. (of America) C. ossifragus or C. caurinus.; carrion crow n., etc.; also applied to birds outside the genus or family, as mire crow n., sea crow n. names for Larus ridibundus. scare crow n. the Black Tern ( Hydrochelidon nigra). blue crow n. a crow-like jay of North America, Gymnocitta cyanocephala. piping crows n. the birds of the sub-family Gymnorhininæ or Streperinæ; and others.
ΚΠ
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Corneille emmentelée, the Winter-crow, whose backe and bellie are of a darke ash-colour: we call her a Royston Crow.
1766 T. Pennant Brit. Zool. ii. 76 The Royston Crow..in Great Britain is..a bird of passage.
1844 W. H. Maxwell Wanderings in Highlands & Islands II. App. 313 The Laughing Gull..or Black Head... The inhabitants of Orkney call it the ‘sea-crow’; and in some places it is called the ‘mire-crow’.
1875 W. McIlwraith Guide Wigtownshire These cliffs are frequented by the Cornish chough or red-legged crow.
3.
a. In phrases and proverbial sayings, as as black as a crow, the crow thinks its own bird fairest (or white), etc. a white crow: i.e. a rara avis. to eat (boiled) crow (U.S. colloquial): to be forced to do something extremely disagreeable and humiliating.
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1297 R. Gloucester's Chron. (1724) 490 So suart so eni crowe amorwe is fot was.
c1405 (c1385) G. Chaucer Knight's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 1832 As blak he lay as any col or crowe.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) ix. Prol. 78 The blak craw thinkis hyr awin byrdis quhite.
1536 H. Latimer 2nd Serm. before Convocation in J. Watkins Serm. & Life Latimer (1858) I. 40 A proverb much used: ‘An evil crow, an evil egg.’
1579 S. Gosson Schoole of Abuse f. 12 For any chaste liuer to haunt them, was a black swan, & a white crow.
1579 W. Fulke Confut. Treat. N. Sander in D. Heskins Ouerthrowne 675 He triumpheth like a crow in a gutter.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. i. ii. ii. 512 Every crow thinks her owne bird fairest.
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 98 As fruitful a place, as any the Crow flies over. View more context for this quotation
1843 ‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase II. lvi. 235 The rara avis—the white crow—a good President.
1851 San Francisco Picayune 3 Dec. 1/6 I kin eat a crow, but I'll be darned if I hanker after it.]
1872 Daily News 31 July Both [are]..in the curious slang of American politics, ‘boiled crow’ to their adherents.
1877 Notes & Queries 5th Ser. 8 186/1 A newspaper editor, who is obliged..to advocate ‘principles’ different from those which he supported a short time before, is said to ‘eat boiled crow’.
1884 ‘M. Twain’ Lett. (1917) II. 443 Warner and Clark are eating their daily crow in the paper.
1885 Mag. Amer. Hist. 13 199 ‘To eat crow’ means to recant, or to humiliate oneself.
1904 Newark Advertiser 12 July 4 There appears to be one disappointed man who can't eat his crow without making faces over it.
1930 ‘E. Queen’ French Powder Myst. xxiv. 196 I should merely be making an ass of myself if I accused someone and then had to eat crow.
1970 New Yorker 17 Oct. 39/1 I was going to apologize, eat crow, offer to kiss and make up.
b. to have a crow to pluck or pull (rarely pick) with any one: to have something disagreeable or awkward to settle with him; to have a matter of dispute, or something requiring explanation, to clear up; to have some fault to find with him. Formerly also, to pluck or pull a crow with one or together.
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society > society and the community > dissent > quarrel or quarrelling > quarrel [verb (intransitive)] > have something to quarrel about
to have a crow to pluck or pull (rarely pick) with any onea1500
to have a matter with (also against)1530
to pluck or pull a crow with one or togethera1616
a1500 (a1460) Towneley Plays (1994) I. ii. 20 Na, na, abide! We haue a craw to pull.
1509 A. Barclay Brant's Shyp of Folys (Pynson) f. lxxxxviii A wrathfull woman..He that hir weddyth hath a crowe to pull.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. i. 84 If a crow help vs in sirra, wee'll plucke a crow together. View more context for this quotation
1662 S. Pepys Diary 18 Nov. (1970) III. 261 He and I very kind, but I every day expect to pull a crow with him about our lodgings.
1668 R. L'Estrange tr. F. G. de Quevedo y Villegas Visions (1708) 159 We have a Crow to pluck with these Fellows, before we part.
1849 Tait's Edinb. Mag. 16 385/1 If there be ‘a crow to pluck’ between us and any contemporary, we shall make a clean breast of it at once.
1865 Sat. Rev. 5 Aug. 179/1 To say nothing of all the crows which he finds to pick with his author on his own account.
c. as the crow flies, etc.: in a direct line, without any of the detours caused by following the road.
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society > travel > means of travel > route or way > [phrase] > by the most direct way > as the crow flies
as the crow flies1803
1803 R. Southey Select. from Lett. (1856) I. 110 About fifteen miles, the crow's road.
1810 Sporting Mag. 35 152 The distance..is upwards of twenty-five miles as the crow flies.
1838 C. Dickens Oliver Twist II. xxv. 89 We cut over the fields..straight as the crow flies.
1873 F. Hall in Scribner's Monthly 6 468/2 It was full eight miles, measured by the crow, to the spot.
d. Colloquial phrase stone (or stiffen) the crows: an exclamation of surprise or disgust. Esp. Australian.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > expectation > surprise, unexpectedness > exclamation of surprise [interjection]
whatOE
well, wellOE
avoyc1300
ouc1300
ay1340
lorda1393
ahaa1400
hillaa1400
whannowc1450
wow1513
why?1520
heydaya1529
ah1538
ah me!a1547
fore me!a1547
o me!a1547
what the (also a) goodyear1570
precious coals1576
Lord have mercy (on us)1581
good heavens1588
whau1589
coads1590
ay me!1591
my stars!a1593
Gods me1595
law1598
Godso1600
to go out1600
coads-nigs1608
for mercy!a1616
good stars!1615
mercy on us (also me, etc.)!a1616
gramercy1617
goodness1623
what next?1662
mon Dieu1665
heugh1668
criminy1681
Lawd1696
the dickens1697
(God, etc.) bless my heart1704
alackaday1705
(for) mercy's sake!1707
my1707
deuce1710
gracious1712
goodly and gracious1713
my word1722
my stars and garters!1758
lawka1774
losha1779
Lord bless me (also you, us, etc.)1784
great guns!1795
mein Gott1795
Dear me!1805
fancy1813
well, I'm sure!1815
massy1817
Dear, dear!1818
to get off1818
laws1824
Mamma mia1824
by crikey1826
wisha1826
alleleu1829
crackey1830
Madonna mia1830
indeed1834
to go on1835
snakes1839
Jerusalem1840
sapristi1840
oh my days1841
tear and ages1841
what (why, etc.) in time?1844
sakes alive!1846
gee willikers1847
to get away1847
well, to be sure!1847
gee1851
Great Scott1852
holy mackerel!1855
doggone1857
lawsy1868
my wig(s)!1871
gee whiz1872
crimes1874
yoicks1881
Christmas1882
hully gee1895
'ullo1895
my hat!1899
good (also great) grief!1900
strike me pink!1902
oo-er1909
what do you know?1909
cripes1910
coo1911
zowiec1913
can you tie that?1918
hot diggety1924
yeow1924
ziggety1924
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
hullo1931
tiens1932
whammo1932
po po po1936
how about that?1939
hallo1942
brother1945
tie that!1948
surprise1953
wowee1963
yikes1971
never1974
to sod off1976
whee1978
mercy1986
yipes1989
the mind > emotion > hatred > dislike > disgust > exclamation of disgust [interjection]
foȝa1250
fie1297
faugh1542
ough1565
pah1592
pish1592
phah1593
paw1640
poh1650
sis1862
gick1905
ptui1930
stone (or stiffen) the crows1930
you wouldn't read about it1950
yeuch1964
barf1966
yuck1966
ick1967
yech1969
1930 L. W. Lower Here's Luck xxvii. 242 ‘Stone the crows!’ stormed Stanley.
1934 B. Penton Landtakers (1935) ii. iii. 120 ‘Gawd stiffen the crows,’ Bill commented bitterly.
1938 J. Moses Nine Miles from Gundagai 82 Stone the crows, what's up, mate? Has Australia got the blues?
1948 C. Day Lewis Otterbury Incident iv. 46 Cor stone the crows, 'ave a 'eart, young gents.
1953 J. Trench Docken Dead iii. 46 Cor stone the crows, he thought, this could go on till Christmas.
4. Astronomy. To southern constellation Corvus, the Raven.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the universe > constellation > Southern constellations > [noun] > Corvus
raven1556
crow1658
1658 in E. Phillips New World Eng. Words
1868 W. Lockyer & J. N. Lockyer tr. A. Guillemin Heavens (ed. 3) 326 Towards the horizon, are distinguished the Balance, the Crow, and the Cup.
5.
a. A bar of iron usually with one end slightly bent and sharpened to a beak, used as a lever or prise; a crowbar n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
a1400 St. Erkenwolde 71 in Horstm. Alteng. Leg. 2nd Ser. 267 Wyȝt werke-men..Putten prises þer-to..Kaghtene by þe corners wt crowes of yrne.
1458 in J. H. Parker Some Acct. Domest. Archit. (1859) III. 42 Than crafti men for the querry made crowes of yre.
1555 R. Eden tr. V. Biringucci Pyrotechnia in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 333 Longe crowes of iren to lyfte great burdens.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Comedy of Errors (1623) iii. i. 81 Well, Ile breake in: go borrow me a crow . View more context for this quotation
1676 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) 11 755 The Mine-men do often strike such forcible strokes with a great Iron-crow.
1793 J. Smeaton Narr. Edystone Lighthouse (ed. 2) §206 To detach the stone with an iron Crow.
1850 J. Greenwood Sailor's Sea-bk. 113 Crows are of various sorts; some are opened at the end, with a claw for drawing nails.
1888 H. R. Haggard Col. Quaritch xl Driving the sharp point of the heavy crow into the rubble work.
b. Used as an agricultural tool.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > [noun] > crow-bar
crow1573
1573 T. Tusser Fiue Hundreth Points Good Husbandry (new ed.) f. 42v Get crowe made of Iron, depe hole for to make.
1574 R. Scot Perfite Platf. of Hoppe Garden (1578) 19 Set vp your Poales preparing theyr waye wyth a Crowe of Iron.
1659 A. Speed Adam out of Eden xv. 111 About the body of the Trees make many holes with a crow of Iron.
1731 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. I. at Vitis Having an iron Crow..a little pointed at the End, they therewith make an Hole directly down.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > military equipment > weapon > engine of war > [noun] > grappling-hook
creeper?a1400
clasp1552
crow1553
cramp-iron1565
corvy1584
1553 J. Brende tr. Q. Curtius Rufus Hist. iv. f. 36v Certaine instrimentes wherwith thei might pull downe the workes that ther ennemies made, called harpagones, and also crowes of Iron which be named corui.
1614 J. Sylvester Bethulia's Rescue 110 Having in vain summon'd the Town; he..Brings here his Fly-Bridge, there his batt'ring Crow.
1632 J. Hayward tr. G. F. Biondi Eromena 150 Iron Wolves and Crows to graspe the Ram withall.
1728 E. Chambers Cycl. Crow, in the Sea Language, a Machine with an Iron Hook, for fastning hold, and grappling with the Enemies Vessel.
1870 J. H. Burton Hist. Scotl. to 1688 V. liii. 263 Their siege-apparatus consisted of ladders with ‘craws’ or clamps of iron to catch the angles of the trap-rock.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > indication > signalling > audible signalling > knocking, etc., as signal > [noun] > one who or that which > door-knocker
ringc1405
crow1579
knocker1598
clapper1617
ringle1639
door-ringa1674
rapper1767
door-knocker1839
society > inhabiting and dwelling > inhabited place > a building > parts of building > window or door > parts of door > [noun] > door fittings > door-knocker
ringc1405
crow1579
hammer1585
knocker1598
clapper1617
ringle1639
rapper1767
door-knocker1839
ring knocker1841
1579 Stanford Churchwardens' Accts. in Antiquary (1888) Apr. 171 For..mending ye perchell and the Crowe.
a1632 E. Fairfax Eclogue iv, in E. Cooper Muses Libr. Now clad in white I see my porter-crow.
1637 N. Whiting Le Hore di Recreatione 22 Who..Knockt at the wicket with the iron crow To whose small neck white phillets here were tyde Which in more ancient dayes did child-bed show.
1846 R. Chambers Trad. Edinb. 200 Hardly one specimen of the pin, crow, or ringle now survives in the Old Town.
8.
a. Thieves' slang. One who keeps watch while another steals.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > thief > [noun] > accomplice > who keeps watch
stand1591
tout1718
touter1844
crow1862
1862 J. Binny in H. Mayhew London Labour (new ed.) Extra vol. 286/1 If any one should be near, the ‘crow’ gives a signal, and they decamp.
1862 Cornhill Mag. Nov. 648 Occasionally they [sc. women] assist at a burglary..remaining outside and keeping watch; they are then called crows.
b. New Zealand, colloquial. A person who pitches sheaves to the stacker.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > harvesting > [noun] > loader of hay
pitcher1336
loadera1642
crow1888
1888 J. Bradshaw N.Z. of Today ix. 171 When harvest came..he ought to have taken his place as ‘crow’ upon the stack.
1913 A. I. Carr Country Work & Life N.Z. v. 11 A ‘crow’..whose work consists of passing the fork-fulls thrown up by the carter to the stacker.
1956 J. Dare Rouseabout Jane xxiv. 185 When it came to stacking the corn, my job was to be ‘crow’.
c. slang. A derogatory name for a girl or woman, esp. one who is old or ugly; frequently in old crow.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > old person > old woman > [noun]
old wifeeOE
old womanOE
trota1375
carlinec1375
cronec1386
vecke1390
monea1393
hagc1400
ribibec1405
aunt?a1425
crate14..
witchc1475
mauda1500
mackabroine1546
grandam?1550
grannam1565
old lady1575
beldam1580
lucky1629
granny1634
patriarchess1639
runta1652
harridan1699
grimalkin1798
mama1810
tante1815
wifie1823
maw1826
old dear1836
tante1845
Mother Bunch1847
douairière1869
dowager1870
veteraness1880
old trout1897
tab1909
bag1924
crow1925
ma1932
Skinny Liz1940
old bag1947
old boot1958
tannie1958
LOL1960
1925 H. H. Richardson Fortunes Richard Mahony (1930) II. vi. 477 It makes me feel a proper old crow.
1938 D. Runyon Take it Easy 27 She is by no means a crow. In fact, she is rather nice-looking.
1957 R. C. Sherriff Telescope ii. i. 56 Mayfield. There's an old lady named Miss Fortescue... Ben (laughing). Coo!—I know that old crow.
ΚΠ
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. ii. sig. D2 These bleard eyes Haue wak'd, to reade your seuerall colours, Sir, Of the pale Citron, the greene Lion, the Crow . View more context for this quotation
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist ii. iii. sig. D4v What colour sayes it? Fac. The Ground black, Sir. Mam. That's your Crowes head..Sub. No, 'Tis not perfect, would it were the Crow.
10. Mining. Used attributively to denote a poor or impure bed of coal, limestone, etc.; e.g. in crow bed, crow chert, crow coal, crow lime(stone. (Cf. crow-gold n. at Compounds 2) northern and Scottish.
ΚΠ
1789 J. Williams Nat. Hist. Mineral Kingdom (1810) I. 62 What is meant by the crawcoal is the crop-coal..which is always supposed to be a thin one.
1836 J. Phillips Geol. Yorks. ii. 66 Thus we have Crow chert, Crow limestone, Crow lime.
1852 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 13 i. 208 Small beds of the kind called crow coal (only useful for burning lime).
Compounds
C1. General attributive. See also crowbar n. to crow-tread v.
a.
crow-scaring n.
ΚΠ
1897 Daily News 15 Jan. 6/1 His first employment was crow-scaring.
1933 W. de la Mare Lord Fish 40 He had taken up crow-scaring at seven.
b.
crow-like adj.
ΚΠ
1616 B. Holyday tr. Persius Sat. v. sig. D2 Hoarsly crow-like caw'st out some idle thing.
C2. † crow-bird n. Obsolete a young crow. † crow-cup n. Obsolete = crow-stone n. † crow-keeper n. Obsolete = crow-herd n.; also a scare-crow. † crow-spike n. Obsolete a crowbar.
crow-bait n. colloquial (originally U.S.) = crows'-meat n.; spec. an old or worn-out horse.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > equus caballus or horse > [noun] > inferior or old and worn-out
brockc1000
stota1100
jadec1386
yaud?a1513
roila1529
tit1548
hilding1590
tireling1590
dog horsec1600
baffle1639
Rosinante1641
aver1691
keffel1699
runt1725
hack horse1760
rip1775
kadisha1817
dunghill1833
pelter1854
crow-bait1857
caster1859
plug1860
knacker1864
plug horse1872
crock1879
skate1894
robbo1897
1857 Spirit of Times 14 Feb. 382/1 He had a ole ball-face, bob-tail rip, jest' 'bout fit for crow-bait.
1860 Marysville (Calif.) Appeal 25 Mar. 2/1 For many moments did the teamster ‘cuss’ and belabor his crow-baits.
1884 Harper's Mag. Oct. 738/2 ‘Drivin' a black hoss—a reg'lar crowbate.’
1887 A. W. Tourgée Button's Inn 149 What right have you to drive a glandered crow-bait?
1898 H. S. Canfield Maid of Frontier 109 That old crow-bait of his would have starved to death.
a1910 ‘O. Henry’ Trimmed Lamp 73 I think I like your horses best. I haven't seen a crowbait since I've been in town.
1920 J. M. Hunter Trail Drivers of Texas I. 98 At this I..rounded up my ‘crow bait’ and pulled out for home.
1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia xiii. 141 He rode out to do the réjon act on an ancient crowbait borrowed from the picadors' stable.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > larger song birds > family Corvidae (crow) > [noun] > young
crow-birda1300
a1300 E.E. Psalter cxlvi. 9 (Mätz.) Mete..to crawe briddes [L. pullis corvorum] him kalland.
crow-blackbird n. U.S. a name for the Purple Grackle ( Quiscalus purpureus), and allied species.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Passeriformes (singing) > arboreal families > family Icteridae > [noun] > genus Quiscalus > other types of
crow-blackbird1778
kling-kling1847
1778 J. Carver Trav. N.-Amer. 473 The crow blackbird..is quite black.
1870 J. R. Lowell My Study Windows (1886) 13 Twice have the crow-blackbirds attempted a settlement in my vines.
1870 Game Laws Mass. in Fur, Fin & Feather (1872) 72 Any undomesticated birds..except birds of prey, crow blackbirds [etc.].
1872 1st Rep. Vermont State Board Agric. 1871–2 333 The most common of all the Blackbirds is that called Crow Blackbirds.
crow-boy n. a boy employed to scare crows away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1868 London Rev. 28 Nov. 591/2 She warns off comely women from the premises as her crow-boy does birds from the newly-sown field.
crow-coal n. (see 10 above).
crow-corn n. a name for the North American plant Aletris farinosa.
crow-eater n. Australian colloquial ‘a lazy fellow who will live on anything rather than work’ (Lentzner); also, a South Australian.
ΘΚΠ
the world > people > person > man > [noun]
churla800
werec900
rinkeOE
wapmanc950
heOE
wyeOE
gomeOE
ledeOE
seggeOE
shalkOE
manOE
carmanlOE
mother bairnc1225
hemea1250
mother sona1250
hind1297
buck1303
mister mana1325
piecec1325
groomc1330
man of mouldc1330
hathela1350
sire1362
malea1382
fellowa1393
guestc1394
sergeant?a1400
tailarda1400
tulka1400
harlotc1405
mother's sona1470
frekea1475
her1488
masculinea1500
gentlemana1513
horse?a1513
mutton?a1513
merchant1549
child1551
dick1553
sorrya1555
knavea1556
dandiprat1556
cove1567
rat1571
manling1573
bird1575
stone-horse1580
loona1586
shaver1592
slave1592
copemate1593
tit1594
dog1597
hima1599
prick1598
dingle-dangle1605
jade1608
dildoa1616
Roger1631
Johnny1648
boy1651
cod1653
cully1676
son of a bitch1697
cull1698
feller1699
chap1704
buff1708
son of a gun1708
buffer1749
codger1750
Mr1753
he-man1758
fella1778
gilla1790
gloak1795
joker1811
gory1819
covey1821
chappie1822
Charley1825
hombre1832
brother-man1839
rooster1840
blokie1841
hoss1843
Joe1846
guy1847
plug1848
chal1851
rye1851
omee1859
bloke1861
guffin1862
gadgie1865
mug1865
kerel1873
stiff1882
snoozer1884
geezer1885
josser1886
dude1895
gazabo1896
jasper1896
prairie dog1897
sport1897
crow-eater1899
papa1903
gink1906
stud1909
scout1912
head1913
beezer1914
jeff1917
pisser1918
bimbo1919
bozo1920
gee1921
mush1936
rye mush1936
basher1942
okie1943
mugger1945
cat1946
ou1949
tess1952
oke1970
bra1974
muzhik1993
the world > people > nations > native or inhabitant of Antipodes > native or inhabitant of Australia > [noun] > parts of
bushboya1834
Melbournite1838
Melburnian1838
bushman1846
Vandemonian1852
scrubber1859
Queenslander1860
Victorian1862
Sydneysider1865
Centralian1875
Waler1880
Territorian1882
mutton-bird1892
bushy1896
sand-groper1896
tothersider1896
crow-eater1899
Bananalander1900
outbacker1900
Tassie1905
groper1924
Tasmanian1934
mutton-bird eater1941
Top-Ender1941
Kanakalander1945
1899 Daily News 13 Sept. 7/5 ‘The land of the crow-eater’ was at no time a convict settlement.
1902 J. H. M. Abbott Tommy Cornstalk 2 It may have been that, to the early South Australians, means of subsistence came not easily. At any rate they are called ‘Crow-eaters’.
1934 T. Wood Cobbers 144 So let this mob of Cornstalks, Croweaters, Sandgropers, and Bananalanders go on yapping, say Victorians.
1967 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 25 July 2 The ‘Crow-Eaters’ have bustled ahead and watched industrialisation transform their once sleepy-hollow State.
crow-fig n. the berry of the nux vomica tree.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > plants yielding poison > [noun] > trees or shrubs yielding poison > nux vomica tree > nux vomica seed
nux vomicaa1398
vomic nut1563
vomiting nut1575
ox-vomit1772
crow-fig1778
ratsbane1826
1778 R. James Diss. Fevers (ed. 8) 48 Cutting in small pieces some of the crow fig, commonly called nux vomica.
1830 Jackson's Oxf. Jrnl. 30 Oct. 3 He struck her; which exasperated the poor woman so much as to induce her to poison herself with crow~fig.
1858 Morning Chron. 16 Sept. 8 It is thought that he has been poisoned with crow-fig, the berry of the nux vomica.
1867 C. L. Bloxam Chemistry 599 Crow-fig, or nux-vomica.
1895 C. L. Bloxam Chem. (ed. 8) 760 Nux-vomica, or crow-fig, contains about 1 per cent. of strychnine.
crow-flight n. a direct course, a straight line (cf. sense 3c); also quasi-adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > [noun]
cut1577
forthright1609
airline1813
beeline1828
crow-fly1846
crow-flight1875
1875 G. M. Hopkins Let. 20 Feb. (1935) 30 A long crow-flight is between us.
1885 Science 7 Aug. 108/2 We clambered over the hills and spurs in the usual crow-flight of the Karens.
1964 Economist 17 Oct. 258/1 The road..runs crow-flight straight.
crow-fly n. see crow-flight n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > a straight course > [noun]
cut1577
forthright1609
airline1813
beeline1828
crow-fly1846
crow-flight1875
1846 Wesleyan Methodist Mag. Jan. 53/1 It lies..east..at a direct distance, crow-fly, of about eighty miles.
1929 T. E. Lawrence Home Lett. (1954) 376 To get to Plymouth (only 300 yards crow-fly) is four and a half miles of bad road!
crow-gold n. (see quot.).
ΚΠ
1878 F. S. Williams Midland Railway (ed. 4) 370 A bed of chalk, almost like clay, containing many pyrites, locally [at Charlton] termed crow-gold.
crow-herd n. a person employed to guard cornfields from rooks.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1805 R. Forsyth Beauties Scotl. II. 86 Many farmers are under the necessity of keeping crowherds.
crow-hole n. a hole made with an iron crow.
crow-iron n. a crowbar.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
1817 Edinb. Monthly Mag. 1 637/2 One of those blocks is so large..that four men with two crow-irons could not turn it out.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > tools and implements > sowing and planting equipment > [noun] > bird-scarer
scarlec1440
scare1530
blencher1531
shail1531
fray-boggard1535
crow-keeper1562
malkinc1565
clacket1594
scarecrow1606
clap-mill1613
field keeper1620
shaw-fowl1621
bean-shatter1639
clapper1660
dudman1670
clack1678
hobidy-booby?1710
worricow1711
cherry-clapper1763
flay-crake1788
potato-bogle1815
cherry-clack1824
feather-piea1825
flay-crow1824
gally-baggar1825
gally-crow1825
bogle1830
tatie-bogle1838
shewel1888
scare-string1889
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1562 J. Heywood Sixt Hundred Epigrammes lxiii, in Wks. sig. Ddii Thers no crowe keeper but thou.
1597 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet i. iv. 6 Scaring the Ladies like a crow-keeper . View more context for this quotation
c1626 Dick of Devonshire (1955) 746 Sure these can be no Crow keepers nor bird scarers from ye fruite?
crow-line n. the straight line of a crow's flight.
crow-minder n. = crow-herd n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > cultivation of plants or crops > [noun] > driving away birds > bird-scarer
crow-keeper1562
field keeper1620
bird-boy1786
crow-herd1805
bird-minder1828
crow-minder1837
rook-boy1856
crow-boy1868
tenting-lad1877
tent-boy1888
tending boy1898
scarer1930
1837 H. Martineau Society in Amer. III. 330 A little crow-minder, hoarse from his late occupation, came in.
crow-needle n. the Umbelliferous plant Scandix Pecten.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > plants and herbs > according to family > Umbelliferae (umbellifers) > [noun] > shepherd's needle
pookneedlea1425
shepherd's needle1562
needle chervil1578
wild chervil1578
lady's comb1597
Venus needle1597
Venus's comb1597
pink needle1611
crow-needle1733
needle1793
Adam's Needle1872
1733 W. Ellis Chiltern & Vale Farming xxxvii. 301 Crow-Needle, bears a white Flower, about half the height of the Corn.
1881 H. Smith & C. R. Smith Isle of Wight Words 46 Crow-needles, Scandix Pecten.
crow-net n. a net for catching crows and other birds.
ΚΠ
1620 J. Wilkinson Treat. Statutes conc. Coroners & Sherifes (new ed.) 124 In every parish and tything..a crow-net provided to kill and destroy crowes, rookes, and choughes.
crowpeck n. (also crowpecks, †crow-pickes) (see quots.).
ΚΠ
1623 C. Butler Feminine Monarchie (rev. ed.) vi. sig. O3v Barbery, Beech, Crowpickes, Charlocke, Rosemary.
1811 T. Davis Gen. View Agric. Wilts. (new ed.) 267 Crowpeck, Shepherd's purse.
1886 J. Britten & R. Holland Dict. Eng. Plant-names Crowpecks, Scandix Pecten. Hants.
crow-pheasant n. a large bird of India and China, Centropus sinensis.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > perching birds > order Cuculiformes (cuckoos, etc.) > [noun] > family Cuculidae > member of genus Centropus (coucal) > miscellaneous members of
vlei lourie1864
crow-pheasant1870
1870 Ibis 6 234 Among the bamboo-copses and gardens around Kiungchowfoo, and all other towns in Hainan, the Crow-Pheasant was abundant.
1878 P. Robinson In my Indian Garden 7 The crow pheasant stalks past with his chestnut wings drooping by his side.
1883 E. H. Aitken Tribes on my Frontier 155 That ungainly object the coucal, crow-pheasant, jungle-crow, or whatever else you like to call the miscellaneous thing.
1964 A. L. Thomson New Dict. Birds 171/2 C[entropus] sinensis, commonly known in India as the Crow-pheasant, is a large black bird with chestnut wings.
crow-pick v. (transitive) to inspect (coal) and free it from stones and rubbish; hence crow-picker.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > mining > mine [verb (transitive)] > other (coal-)mining procedures
underbeit1670
buck1683
bank1705
bunding1747
urge1758
slappet1811
tamp1819
jowl1825
stack1832
sprag1841
hurry1847
bottom1851
salt1852
pipe1861
mill1868
tram1883
stope1886
sump1910
crow-pick1920
stockpile1921
spec1981
society > occupation and work > worker > workers according to type of work > manual or industrial worker > miner > [noun] > coal-miner > who sifts coal
screener1816
screenman1842
pit brow1886
crow-picker1920
1920 Glasgow Herald 13 May 6 To crow-pick each hutch as it passes the steelyard.
1921 Dict. Occup. Terms (1927) §047 Crow picker; inspects shale in mine before it is loaded, to see that only clean shale is loaded.
1922 Glasgow Herald 12 July 10 Frae crawpickers that craw us O' hauf oor hardwon rakes;..Deliver us, O Lord!
crow-purse n. a local name for the empty egg-case of the skate (also Mermaid's-purse).
ΚΠ
a1688 J. Wallace Descr. Orkney (1693) 18 On the shore is to be found..also that which they call the Crow-Purse: which is a pretty work of Nature.
Categories »
crow-sheaf n. Cornwall ‘the top sheaf on the end of a mow’.
crow-shrike n. a bird of the sub-family Gymnorhininæ or Piping Crows.
crows'-meat n. food for crows, carrion.
ΚΠ
1681 T. Otway Souldiers Fortune iii. i. 39 He shall be Crows meat by to morrow night.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > equipment > lever or crowbar > [noun]
lever1297
speke1366
crowa1400
gavelock1497
prisea1500
handspoke1513
porter1538
sway1545
handspike1559
heaver1598
coleweigh1600
handspeek1644
forcer1649
ringer1650
ripping-chisel1659
pinch1685
crow-spike1692
Betty1700
wringer1703
crowbar1748
spike1771
pry1803
jemmy1811
crow-iron1817
dog1825
pinchbar1837
jimmy1848
stick1848
pry bar1872
peiser1873
nail bar1929
cane1930
1692 N. Luttrell Diary in Brief Hist. Relation State Affairs (1857) II. 456 Great quantities of warlike preparations, as..pickaxes, shovells, crow spikes, etc.
crow-starving n. the keeping of rooks from cornfields.
crow-tree n. a tree in a rookery.
ΚΠ
1847 C. Brontë Jane Eyre I. xv. 282 I like Thornfield; its antiquity; its retirement; its old crow-trees and thorn-trees.
Draft additions September 2008
crow's ash n. Australian a rainforest tree, Flindersia australis (family Rutaceae), found in parts of eastern Australia and having a scaly bark and prickly woody fruits; (also) the timber of this tree, which is hard, yellowish, and oily.
ΚΠ
1852 J. D. Lang Hist. Acct. New S. Wales (ed. 3) II. 71 The casks are made of various sorts of indigenous timber, called the silky oak, the spotted gum, and the crow's-ash; of which the first mentioned is the best.
1903 Austral. Handbk. 279 Other orders..furnish..large-sized timber, particularly the following:—..‘Crow's Ash’ (Flindersia australis).
1949 F. N. Howes Veg. Gums & Resins vi. 75 F. australis, (‘cudgerie’ or ‘crow's ash’)..yields a similar gum and that of F. bennetiana is also water-soluble.
1999 Westside News (Brisbane) 13 Oct. 1/2 Bunya pine, crows ash, figs, tuckeroos and melaleuca trees in the park had been spiked with metal rods to prevent them being chain sawed to the ground to make way for the bypass.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crown.2
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ/ a. Crowing (of a cock). Cf. cockcrow n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > hen or cock > [noun] > cock > crowing of
crowc1290
cockcrow?c1475
cock-a-doodle-doo1573
chanticleering1641
cock-a-doodle-dooing1859
cockcrowing1878
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 137/1090 Bi-fore þe cockes crowe.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 489 I shal at Cokkes crowe Ful priuely knokken at his wyndowe.
1663 A. Cowley Brutus in Pindaric Odes iv One would have thought 't had heard the Morning Crow.
1851 H. W. Longfellow Golden Legend iv. 198 The cheery crow Of cocks in the yard below.
b. transferred and figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rejoicing or exultation > [noun] > jubilation or loud rejoicing > cheering or shouting hurrah > inarticulate shout
crow1859
1859 W. C. Bennett Baby May Crows and laughs and tearful eyes.
1860 T. P. Thompson Audi Alteram Partem (1861) III. cxxvii. 85 The folly which got up gasconading crows for war.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crown.3
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ/ The mesentery of an animal.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > constituent materials > [noun] > fat > mesentery
crow1662
frill1879
1662 J. Chandler tr. J. B. van Helmont Oriatrike 179 The meat and drink ascends into the Chyle or juyce of the stomach, into the juyce of the mesentery or Crow.
1804 J. Farley London Art Cookery (ed. 10) The harslet, which consists of the liver, crow, kidneys, and skirts.
c1818 Young Woman's Companion 2 The liver and crow are much admired fried with bacon.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
Crown.4adj.
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ/ A. n.4
Thesaurus »
1. A North American Indian people formerly inhabiting the regions of the Yellowstone and Wind rivers, now occupying a reservation in Montana; a member of this people.
2. The language of this people, belonging to the Siouan stock.
ΘΠ
the mind > language > languages of the world > Amerindian > [noun] > northern Amerindian > Sioux language family > languages of
Sioux1776
Missouri1804
Osage1804
Mandan1805
Winnebago1831
Yuchi1836
Crow1846
Otoe1848
Yankton1849
Dakotana1856
Assiniboine1872
Teton1877
Santee1882
Kansa1933
Oglala1933
Lakota1939
Omaha1957
Hidatsa1964
Ho-Chunk1997
1801 P. Fidler in Amer. Heritage Bk. of Indians (1961) 324 (legend on map) Is.sap.poo. Crow mountain Indians.
1812 J. C. Luttig Jrnl. Exped. Upper Missouri 17 Sept. (1920) 78 Lecomte..asked them what Nation they were, they answered Crows.
1846 W. G. D. Stewart Altowan I. viii. 207 The language used was Crow.
1857 C. Kingsley Two Years Ago I. iv. 101 I got it in fair fight..by a Crow's tomahawk in the Rocky Mountains.
1877 L. H. Morgan Anc. Society iii. iii. 440 In Crow my husband's brother's wife is ‘my comrade’.
1894 Outing May 89/1 Our name ‘Crow’ for this large and flourishing tribe of Indians..is a translation of their own totemic name Ab-sár-ra-ké, or Ap-sar-ro-ke.
1900 Knowledge July 153/2 Among the other Atlantic stocks are..the Siouans, some of the most famous tribes of the latter being the Sioux or Dakotas, and the Crows.
1907 F. W. Hodge Handbk. Amer. Indians I. 367/2 Crows (trans., through French gens des corbeaux, of their own name, Absároke, crow, sparrowhawk, or bird people). A Siouan tribe forming part of the Hidatsa group.
B. adj.
1. Of or pertaining to this people or their language.
ΘΠ
the world > people > ethnicities > North American peoples > Plains Indian > [adjective] > Siouan
Assiniboine1743
Missouri1765
Mandan1794
Otoe1794
Crow1804
Maha1804
Osage1804
Gros Ventre1805
Oglala1805
Kansa1806
Dakota1809
Teton1814
Yankton1825
Lakota1846
the mind > language > languages of the world > Amerindian > [adjective] > of Sioux language family > of Sioux languages
Sioux1761
Otoe1794
Dakota1809
Lakota1846
Poncac1869
Crow1935
1804 W. Clark Jrnl. 12 Oct. in Jrnls. Lewis & Clark Exped. (1987) III. 163 This nation is at war with the Crow Indians.
1837 W. Irving Adventures Capt. Bonneville II. 29 Fitzpatrick..succeeded in prevailing upon the Crow chieftain to return him his horses.
1935 R. H. Lowie Crow Indians 3 The Crow name for themselves is ‘Apsāruke’, which early interpreters mistranslated as ‘gens de corbeaux’, ‘Crow (or Kite) Indians’. To me the word was explained as the name of a bird no longer to be seen in the country. The squaw-man Leforge defines it as ‘a peculiar kind of forked-tail bird resembling the blue jay or magpie’ which tradition assigns to the fauna of eastern Nebraska and Kansas at the time the Crow lived there. Apart from this fanciful localization, his and my data thus agree well enough.
1969 W. K. Powers Indians of Northern Plains 246 The Crow hold their annual Sun dance at Lodge Grass, Montana, in June, and the Crow Indian Fair and Rodeo at Crow Agency, Montana, in August.
2. Crow-type or Crow system, etc.: a type of kinship terminology, typical of societies with matrilineages, in which sisters and female cousins are classified under three terms, one applied to sister and mother's sister's daughter, another to mother's brother's daughter (and brother's daughter), and the third to father's sister's daughter (and her mother and daughter).
ΘΠ
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [adjective] > relating to matrilineal system
matrilineal1904
matrilinear1910
Crow-type1925
society > society and the community > kinship or relationship > [noun] > kinship system > matrilineal
matriliny1906
matrilineality1956
Crow system1968
1925 L. Spier in Univ. Washington Publ. Anthropol. I. ii. 73 II. Crow Type. In this system the father's sister is an ‘aunt’ and her female descendants through females are ‘aunts’!
1949 F. Eggan in M. Fortes Social Struct. 122 They [sc. the Hopi] possess a majority of features associated with the classic Crow type.
1964 F. G. Lounsbury in W. H. Goodenough Explor. Cult. Anthropol. 351 A formal account of the Crow- and Omaha-type kinship terminologies.
1968 Internat. Encycl. Social Sci. VIII. 396 Their kinship systems [i.e., those of ‘the tribes of the Prairie Plains’] were also ‘classificatory’, in that lineal and collateral relatives were merged in the terminology, but they utilized the lineage principle to provide a wide extension to the system. There were two subtypes: (a) the ‘Omaha’ system, associated with patrilineal descent, and (b) the ‘Crow’ system, associated with matrilineal descent.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crowv.1
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ//krəʊn/]. Forms: Old English–Middle English crawan, crawen, Middle English–1600s crowe, Middle English– crow; northernMiddle English–1500s crau, ( krau), Middle English crawe, Middle English– craw. past tense Old English–Middle English creow, Middle English creuȝ, Middle English cru, Middle English–1500s creu, Middle English crwe, Middle English creew, Middle English–1500s crewe, krew, Middle English– crew; also 1500s– crowed. past participle Old English crawen), Middle English crowe(n, 1600s crowne, (1800s crown); northern1500s crawin, 1700s crawn; 1500s– crowed. 1. † b. Rarely of other cries, as that of the raven.
a. intransitive. To utter the loud cry of a cock.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > sound or bird defined by > [verb (intransitive)] > cry or call
crowc1000
galec1275
pewa1425
call1486
hoota1500
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > hen or cock > [verb (intransitive)] > crow (of cock)
gredec897
singc950
crowc1000
cock-a-doodle-doo1596
crowd1753
chanticleer1810
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. xxvi. 75 Ær þam þe se cocc crawe.
c1000 West Saxon Gospels: Matt. xxvi. 74 And hrædlice þa creow se cocc.
c1290 S. Eng. Leg. I. 416/460 At þe furste cocke þat creuȝ.
a1400 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Vesp.) l. 15945 Þan bigan þe cok to crau.
c1405 (c1390) G. Chaucer Miller's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 501 Whan þt the firste cok hath crowe anon.
a1522 G. Douglas in tr. Virgil Æneid (1959) vii. Prol. 114 Phebus crownyt byrd..thryss had crawin cleir.
1599 W. Shakespeare Romeo & Juliet iv. iv. 3 The second Cock hath crowed . View more context for this quotation
a1600 Proph. Welshmen in F. Thynne Animaduersions (1875) App. v. 117 A yong coke that crowed wonderos bould.
1611 Bible (King James) Luke xxii. 60 While he yet spake, the cocke crew . View more context for this quotation
1717 G. Berkeley Jrnls. Trav. Italy 21 Jan. in Wks. (1955) VII. 262 The Column..on which the Cock stood when he crow'd.
1815 W. Scott Lord of Isles v. xiii. 191 The black-cock deem'd it day, and crew.
1835 H. Miller Scenes & Legends N. Scotl. xiv. 251 The cock had crown.
1842 Ld. Tennyson Will Waterproof's Monologue in Poems (new ed.) II. 188 The Cock..Crow'd lustier late and early.
1874 G. W. Dasent Tales from Fjeld 66 He stood on one leg and crew.
ΚΠ
a1250 Owl & Nightingale 336 Evre croweth thi wrecche crei, That he ne swiketh niȝt ne dai.
c1386 G. Chaucer Miller's Tale 191 He syngeth crowyng as a nightyngale.
1483 Cath. Angl. 83 To Crowe..crocitare vel crocare, coruorum est.
c. quasi-transitive.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > order Galliformes (fowls) > family Phasianidae (pheasants, etc.) > hen or cock > [verb (transitive)] > make sound (of cock)
crow1393
chuck1700
chanticleer1810
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis II. 102 There is no cock to crowe day.
1816 W. Scott Antiquary II. vi. 144 What for the red cock didna craw her up in the morning.
2. transferred. Of persons: To utter a loud inarticulate sound of joy or exultation; said esp. of the joyful cry of an infant.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pleasure > joy, gladness, or delight > rejoicing or exultation > rejoice or exult [verb (intransitive)] > make sounds of rejoicing or exultation > make loud inarticulate sound of joy
crow1579
1579 E. Spenser Shepheardes Cal. Feb. 40 And crowing in pypes made of greene corne, You thinken to be Lords of the yeare.
1589 R. Greene Menaphon sig. B4v More he [sc. the baby] crowde, more we cride.
a1616 W. Shakespeare As you like It (1623) ii. vii. 30.
1723 D. Defoe Hist. Col. Jack (ed. 2) 54 He..began to Crow and Hallow like a mad Boy.
1782 F. Burney Let. Nov. in Early Jrnls. & Lett. (2012) V. 144 He Laughed & crowed the whole Time.
a1863 W. M. Thackeray Denis Duval (1869) iii [The] baby..would..crow with delight.
3. figurative. To speak in exultation; to exult loudly, boast, swagger. to crow over: to triumph over.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > boasting or boastfulness > boast [verb (intransitive)]
yelpc888
kebc1315
glorify1340
to make avauntc1340
boast1377
brag1377
to shake boastc1380
glorya1382
to make (one's) boastc1385
crackc1470
avaunt1471
glaster1513
voust1513
to make (one's or a) vauntc1515
jet?1521
vaunt?1521
crowa1529
rail1530
devauntc1540
brave1549
vaunt1611
thrasonize1619
vapour1629
ostentate1670
goster1673
flourish1674
rodomontade1681
taper1683
gasconade1717
stump1721
rift1794
mang1819
snigger1823
gab1825
cackle1847
to talk horse1855
skite1857
to blow (also U.S. toot) one's own horn1859
to shoot off one's mouth1864
spreadeagle1866
swank1874
bum1877
to sound off1918
woof1934
to shoot a line1941
to honk off1952
to mouth off1958
blow-
the mind > emotion > pride > ostentation > splendour, magnificence, or pomp > exhibit or appear in splendour or magnificence to [verb (transitive)] > triumph over
to crow overa1529
a1529 J. Skelton Why come ye nat to Courte (?1545) 65 Dicken, thou krew doutlesse.
1588 J. Udall Demonstr. Trueth of Discipline vi. 40 They crow ouer them as if they wer their slaues.
1588 R. Greene Pandosto sig. C4v So his wife..beganne to crow against her goodman.
1658 W. Gurnall Christian in Armour: 2nd Pt. 252 Hagar..began to contest with, yea, crow over her Mistresse.
1776 S. Johnson Lett. to Mrs. Thrale 18 May He crows and triumphs.
1806 M. L. Weems Life G. Washington (ed. 5) ii. 13 The party favored would begin to crow.
1841 J. H. Newman Lett. & Corr. (1891) II. 337 We must not crow till we are out of the wood.
1843 C. Dickens Martin Chuzzlewit (1844) xx. 250 I'm not going to be crowed over by you.
1893 N.E.D. at Crow Mod. He crowed over them.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crowv.2
/krəʊ/, U.S. /kroʊ/, South African English /krəʊ/ South African.
transitive and intransitive. To dig.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (intransitive)] > dig or excavate
gravea1000
delvec1000
wrootc1325
minec1330
gruba1350
sinkc1358
undermine1382
diga1387
spit1393
to pick upc1400
holk1513
graff1532
pion1643
excavate1843
throw1843
crow1853
spade1869
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > dig (hole, etc.)
delvec825
graveOE
sinkc1358
diga1387
holkc1400
cast1481
to dig up1551
moil1581
effodiate1612
diffode1657
to dig out1748
burrow1831
excavate1839
crow1853
society > occupation and work > industry > earth-moving, etc. > [verb (transitive)] > dig (hole, etc.) > dig up (object)
upgravea1340
digc1350
to dig upc1400
to dig outa1425
unearthc1450
holk1554
moil1581
sprittle1585
effodicate1599
moot1610
effode1657
to cast up1660
to rough out1834
exter1835
excavate1848
crow1853
stub1927
1853 F. Galton Narr. Explorer Trop. S. Afr. iii. 79 This method of digging is called in Dutch patois ‘crowing’ the ground; thus, ‘crow-water’, means water that you have to crow for, and not an open well, or spring.
1868 J. G. Wood Nat. Hist. Man I. xxx. 343 The Damaras..will sometimes ‘crow’ holes eighteen inches..in depth.
1878 J. G. Wood Uncivilized Races Men (new ed.) I. 313 The Damara wife..crows her own ground nuts.
1896 H. A. Bryden Tales S. Afr. 47 With this last implement she can the more easily crow up their dinner.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1933; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1a700
n.2c1290n.31662
n.4adj.1801v.1c1000v.21853