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CRUTCH
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Anything that serves as an expedient
Example:
he uses drugs as a psychological crutch
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("crutch" is a kind of...):
expedient (a means to an end; not necessarily a principled or ethical one)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A wooden or metal staff that fits under the armpit and reaches to the ground; used by disabled person while walking
Classified under:
Nouns denoting man-made objects
Hypernyms ("crutch" is a kind of...):
staff (a strong rod or stick with a specialized utilitarian purpose)
Context examples:
If you need to keep your body weight off your foot, ankle or knee, you may need crutches.
(Mobility Aids, NIH)
Take a cutlass, him that dares, and I'll see the colour of his inside, crutch and all, before that pipe's empty.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Never till I'm stiff and old and have to use a crutch.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
I plucked up courage at once, crossed the threshold, and walked right up to the man where he stood, propped on his crutch, talking to a customer.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Frank, sitting just behind the little girls, heard what they were saying, and pushed his crutch away from him with an impatient gesture as he watched the active lads going through all sorts of comical gymnastics.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
The work that man went through, leaping on his crutch till the muscles of his chest were fit to burst, was work no sound man ever equalled; and so thinks the doctor.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Mrs. March and Meg sat among the apple piles like a pair of Pomonas, sorting the contributions that kept pouring in, while Amy with a beautiful motherly expression in her face sketched the various groups, and watched over one pale lad, who sat adoring her with his little crutch beside him.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
He stood where he was, resting lightly on his crutch, watching his companion like a snake about to spring.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
When I came again to myself the monster had pulled himself together, his crutch under his arm, his hat upon his head.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
Then he advanced to the stockade, threw over his crutch, got a leg up, and with great vigour and skill succeeded in surmounting the fence and dropping safely to the other side.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
