Lexic.us

Definition of Crutch

1. Noun. A wooden or metal staff that fits under the armpit and reaches to the ground; used by disabled person while walking.

2. Noun. Anything that serves as an expedient. "He uses drugs as a psychological crutch"

Definition of Crutch

1. n. A staff with a crosspiece at the head, to be placed under the arm or shoulder, to support the lame or infirm in walking.

2. v. t. To support on crutches; to prop up.

Definition of Crutch

1. Noun. A device to assist in motion as a cane, especially one that provides support under the arm to reduce weight on a leg. ¹

2. Noun. Something that supports, often used negatively to indicate that it is not needed and causes an unhealthful dependency; a prop ¹

3. Noun. A crotch; the area of body where the legs fork from the trunk. ¹

4. Verb. (transitive) To support on crutches; to prop up. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Crutch

1. to prop up or support [v -ED, -ING, -ES]

Medical Definition of Crutch

1. A device used singly or in pairs to assist in walking when the act is impaired by a lower extremity (or trunk) disability; it transfers all or part of weight-bearing to the upper extremity. Origin: A. S. Cryce (05 Mar 2000)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Crutch

crustiest crustily crustiness crustinesses crusting crustless crustlike crustose crustose thallus crustquake

crustquakes crusts crusty crusy crut crutch (current term) crutch palsy crutch paralysis crutched crutches

crutching crutchlike crutter crutters cruve cruves crux crux gammata crux of heart crux of the matter

Literary usage of Crutch

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. On the Study of Celtic Literature by Matthew Arnold (1867)
"O my crutch ! is it not winter-time now, when men talk together after that they have ... 0 my crutch ! stand straight, thou wilt support me the better; ..."

2. Poems by Robert Loveman (1896)
"UPON a crutch, her girlish face Alight with love and tender grace, Laughing, she limps from place to place Upon a crutch. And you and I, who journey through ..."

3. Manual of artificial limbs: ... an Exhaustive Exposition of Pro[s]thesis. by A.A. Marks (Firm), A.A. Marks (Firm, George Edwin Marks (1907)
"crutch FERRULES AND crutch RUBBERS CUTS REPRESENT ONE-HALF SIZE NO. ... Heavy brass ferrule, nickel-plated; will screw on the end of a crutch one inch in ..."

4. The Century Dictionary: An Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language by William Dwight Whitney (1889)
"Any fixture or mechanical device resembling a crutch or the head of a crutch, (a) A f< irked rest for the leg on a woman's saddle. ..."

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