Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Crutch"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Crutch \Crutch\, v. t.
To support on crutches; to prop up. [R.]
Two fools that crutch their feeble sense on verse.
--Dryden.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Crutch \Crutch\ (kr[u^]ch; 224), n.; pl. {Crutches} (-[e^]z).
[OE. crucche, AS. crycc, cricc; akin to D. kruk, G.
kr["u]cke, Dan. krykke, Sw. krycka, and to E. crook. See
{Crook}, and cf. {Cricket} a low stool.]
1. A staff with a crosspiece at the head, to be placed under
the arm or shoulder, to support the lame or infirm in
walking.
I'll lean upon one crutch, and fight with the other.
--Shak.
Rhyme is a crutch that lifts the weak alone. --H.
Smith.
2. A form of pommel for a woman's saddle, consisting of a
forked rest to hold the leg of the rider.
3. (Naut.)
(a) A knee, or piece of knee timber.
(b) A forked stanchion or post; a crotch. See {Crotch}.
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Crotch \Crotch\ (kr?ch; 224), n.; pl. {Crotches} (-?z). [Cf.
{Crotchet}, {Crutch}.]
1. The angle formed by the parting of two legs or branches; a
fork; the point where a trunk divides; as, the crotch of a
tree.
2. (Naut.) A stanchion or post of wood or iron, with two arms
for supporting a boom, spare yards, etc.; -- called also
{crane} and {crutch}. --Totten.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
crutch
n 1: a wooden or metal staff that fits under the armpit and
reaches to the ground; used by disabled person while
walking
2: anything that serves as an expedient; "he uses drugs as a
psychological crutch"
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