crutch
/ˈkɹʌt͡ʃ/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 2.90 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A device to assist in motion as a cane, especially one that provides support under the arm to reduce weight on a leg.
noun
Something or someone that supports, often used negatively to indicate that it is not needed and causes an unhealthy dependency; a prop.
noun
A form of pommel for a woman's saddle, consisting of a forked rest to hold the leg of the rider.
Example Sentences
- "He walked on crutches for a month until the cast was removed from his leg."
- "I'll lean upon one crutch, and fight with the other."
- "Sullen now, with stultified spleen, Mrs Dibble grappled her crutches and levered herself upright after an ungainly struggle."
- "Alcohol became a crutch to help him through the long nights; eventually it killed him."
- "Rhyme[…]is […] at best a crutch that lifts the weak alone."
- "[I'll] haſten Og and Doeg to rehearſe, / Tvvo Fools that Crutch their Feeble Senſe on Verſe; / VVho by my Muſe to all ſucceeding times, / Shall live in ſpight of their ovvn Dogrell Rhimes."
Etymology
From Middle English crucche, from Old English cryċċ (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krukkju, from Proto-Germanic *krukjō (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewg- (“wrinkle, bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, bend”). Cognate with Scots curche, crutch (“crutch, stilts”), Dutch kruk (“crutch”), Low German krukke, Krück (“crutch”), German Krücke (“crutch”), Swedish krycka (“crutch”). Latin crucia, crucca, croccia, crocia (“crutch”), and its descendants are ultimately from the Germanic.