Library / English Dictionary

CRAFT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The skilled practice of a practical occupation

Example:

he learned his trade as an apprentice

Synonyms:

craft; trade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("craft" is a kind of...):

business; job; line; line of work; occupation (the principal activity in your life that you do to earn money)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "craft"):

wine making; winemaking (the craft and science of growing grapes and making wine)

upholstery (the craft of upholstering)

undertaking (the trade of a funeral director)

typography (the craft of composing type and printing from it)

tanning (making leather from rawhide)

mintage (act or process of minting coins)

handicraft (a craft that requires skillful hands)

tool-and-die work (the craft of making special tools and dies)

tailoring (the occupation of a tailor)

shingling (the laying on of shingles)

sheet-metal work (the craft of doing sheet metal work (as in ventilation systems))

roofing (the craft of a roofer)

cobbling; shoe repairing; shoemaking (the shoemaker's trade)

pyrotechnics; pyrotechny (the craft of making fireworks)

pottery (the craft of making earthenware)

airplane mechanics (the craft of building and repairing airplanes)

auto mechanics (the craft of building and repairing automobiles)

basketry (the craft of basket making)

carpentry; woodwork; woodworking (the craft of a carpenter: making things out of wood)

drafting; mechanical drawing (the craft of drawing blueprints)

dressmaking (the craft of making dresses)

electrical work (the craft of an electrician)

interior decorating; interior decoration (the trade or act of decorating the interior of a building or room, especially with regard to color combination, paint, fabrics, carpeting, etc.)

lumbering (the trade of cutting or preparing or selling timber)

masonry (the craft of a mason)

oculism (the craft of an oculist)

house painting; painting (the occupation of a house painter)

papermaking (the craft of making paper)

pilotage; piloting (the occupation of a pilot)

plumbery; plumbing (the occupation of a plumber (installing and repairing pipes and fixtures for water or gas or sewage in a building))

Derivation:

craft (make by hand and with much skill)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("craft" is a kind of...):

vehicle (a conveyance that transports people or objects)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "craft"):

vessel; watercraft (a craft designed for water transportation)

ballistic capsule; space vehicle; spacecraft (a craft capable of traveling in outer space; technically, a satellite around the sun)

landing craft (naval craft designed for putting ashore troops and equipment)

ground-effect machine; hovercraft (a craft capable of moving over water or land on a cushion of air created by jet engines)

aircraft (a vehicle that can fly)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception

Synonyms:

craft; craftiness; cunning; foxiness; guile; slyness; wiliness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("craft" is a kind of...):

astuteness; perspicaciousness; perspicacity; shrewdness (intelligence manifested by being astute (as in business dealings))

Derivation:

crafty (marked by skill in deception)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Skill in an occupation or trade

Synonyms:

craft; craftsmanship; workmanship

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("craft" is a kind of...):

accomplishment; acquirement; acquisition; attainment; skill (an ability that has been acquired by training)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "craft"):

housecraft (skill in domestic management)

priestcraft (the skills involved in the work of a priest)

stagecraft (skill in writing or staging plays)

tradecraft (skill acquired through experience in a trade; often used to discuss skill in espionage)

watercraft (skill in the management of boats)

woodcraft (skill in carving or fashioning objects from wood)

Derivation:

craft (make by hand and with much skill)

Sense 5

Meaning:

People who perform a particular kind of skilled work

Example:

as they say in the trade

Synonyms:

craft; trade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("craft" is a kind of...):

class; social class; socio-economic class; stratum (people having the same social, economic, or educational status)

Derivation:

craft (make by hand and with much skill)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make by hand and with much skill

Example:

The artisan crafted a complicated tool

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "craft" is one way to...):

fashion; forge (make out of components (often in an improvising manner))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "craft"):

handcraft (make something by hand)

filigree (make filigree, as with a precious metal)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

craft (the skilled practice of a practical occupation)

craft (skill in an occupation or trade)

craft (people who perform a particular kind of skilled work)

crafter (a creator of great skill in the manual arts)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“Canst not give a name to it, and thou so skilled in leech-craft?”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

With a northerly breeze it lies placid and sheltered, inviting the storm-tossed craft to tack into it for rest and protection.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“She seems a clever craft; more I can't say.”

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

He would buy a schooner—one of those yacht- like, coppered crafts that sailed like witches—and go trading copra and pearling among the islands.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He studied the habits of the squirrel with greater carefulness, and strove with greater craft to steal upon it and surprise it.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

These include: • Oven and drain cleaners • Laundry powder • Floor polish • Paint thinners, strippers and removers • Pesticides • Grease and rust removers • Motor oil and fuel additives • Arts and craft supplies

(Household Products, Environmental Protection Agency)

With every turn I peered ahead, looking for our opponents, but my uncle seemed to concern himself very little about them, and occupied himself in giving me advice, mixed up with so many phrases of the craft, that it was all that I could do to follow him.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I had never doubted his meanness, his craft and malice; but I fully comprehended now, for the first time, what a base, unrelenting, and revengeful spirit, must have been engendered by this early, and this long, suppression.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

We were coming out of the ice-pack on our way home, with head winds and a week’s southerly gale, when we picked up a little craft that had been blown north. There was one man on her—a landsman.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

It was no more than a stiff blow, but to us, fighting for life in our frail craft, it was indeed a storm.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)