craft

American  

[kraft, krahft] / kræft, krɑft /

noun

plural

crafts, craft

1. an art, trade, or occupation requiring special skill, especially manual skill.

   the craft of a mason.

2. skill; dexterity.

   The silversmith worked with great craft.

   Synonyms:

   ability, talent

3. skill or ability used for bad purposes; cunning; deceit; guile.

   Synonyms:

   deception, deceitfulness, shrewdness, craftiness

4. the members of a trade or profession collectively; a guild.

5. a ship or other vessel.

6. a number of ships or other vessels taken as a whole.

   The craft were warned of possible heavy squalls.

7. aircraft collectively.

8. a single aircraft.

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adjective

1. noting or relating to a food or other product made with special skill, especially manual skill.

   craft beer; craft coffee; a line of craft furniture.

verb (used with object)

1. to make or manufacture (an object or product) with skill and careful attention to detail.

craft British  

/ krɑːft /

noun

1. skill or ability, esp in handiwork

2. skill in deception and trickery; guile; cunning

3. an occupation or trade requiring special skill, esp manual dexterity

4. 1. the members of such a trade, regarded collectively

   2. ( as modifier )

      a craft guild

5. a single vessel, aircraft, or spacecraft

6. (functioning as plural) ships, boats, aircraft, or spacecraft collectively

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verb

1. (tr) to make or fashion with skill, esp by hand

Related Words

See cunning.

Other Word Forms

• craftless adjective

Etymology

Origin of craft

First recorded before 900; Middle English; Old English cræft “strength, skill”; cognate with German Kraft, Dutch kracht, Old Norse kraptr

Example Sentences

Before the war he crafted pieces out of his home.

From The Wall Street Journal

Just a few seasons into his run on “Saturday Night Live,” Marcello Hernández landed on the sort of breakout character cast members spend years trying to craft.

From Salon

He enlisted for army training at Colchester and was kept in reserve before being sent to Normandy on a landing craft on 25 June 1944.

From BBC

Nineteenth-century jewelry buffs can learn all they ever wanted about the crafts, themes, makers and clients central to the period.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the resort’s most impressive restaurant is KŌEN, which crafts a fine-dining degustation menu with a Nordic aesthetic, Japanese techniques, and Maldivian inspiration.

From Salon

Related Words

• aircraft
• airplane
• barge
• boat
• plane
• ship
• spacecraft
• vessel