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definitions

crew

1
[kroo]
||
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crew ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

verb (used with object)

to serve as a member of a crew on (a ship, aircraft, etc.).
to obtain or employ a crew for (a ship, aircraft, etc.).

verb (used without object)

to serve as a member of a crew.

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crew cut
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Lexical Investigations: Motley
The exact origin of motley is uncertain, but it’s likely to have come from the Middle English word mote, meaning “speck.” It makes sense then that mottled and speckled have similar meanings. Mottle is actually a back formation of motley. In the sixteenth century, the multicolored clothing worn by a fool or court jester became known as a motley. The phrase “motley fool” harkens back to …
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RELATED WORDS

corps, crowd, company, band, squad, troop, team, gang, set, cluster, troupe, bunch, horde, retinue, posse, swarm, lot, party, bevy, faction

Origin of crew

1
1425–75; late Middle English crewe augmentation, hence reinforcements, body of soldiers < Middle French creue, literally, increase, noun use of feminine of Old French creu, past participle of creistre to grow < Latin crēscere; see crescent
Related formscrew·less, adjective

Usage note

See collective noun.

crew

2
[kroo]

verb

a simple past tense of crow2.

crow

2
[kroh]

verb (used without object), crowed or for 1, (especially British), crew; crowed; crow·ing.

to utter the characteristic cry of a rooster.
to gloat, boast, or exult (often followed by over).
to utter an inarticulate cry of pleasure, as an infant does.

noun

the characteristic cry of a rooster.
an inarticulate cry of pleasure.

Origin of crow

2
before 1000; Middle English crowen, Old English crāwan; cognate with Dutch kraaien, German krähen; see crow1
Related formscrow·er, nouncrow·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for crow

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crow ON THESAURUS.COM
2. vaunt, brag.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for crew

Contemporary Examples of crew

Historical Examples of crew

British Dictionary definitions for crew

crew

1

noun (sometimes functioning as plural)

the men who man a ship, boat, aircraft, etc
nautical a group of people assigned to a particular job or type of work
informal a gang, company, or crowd

verb

to serve on (a ship) as a member of the crew

Word Origin for crew

C15 crue (military) reinforcement, from Old French creue augmentation, from Old French creistre to increase, from Latin crescere

crew

2

verb

a past tense of crow 2

Crow

noun

plural Crows or Crow a member of a Native American people living in E Montana
the language of this people, belonging to the Siouan family

crow

1

noun

any large gregarious songbird of the genus Corvus, esp C. corone (the carrion crow) of Europe and Asia: family Corvidae . Other species are the raven, rook, and jackdaw and all have a heavy bill, glossy black plumage, and rounded wingsSee also carrion crow Related adjective: corvine
any of various other corvine birds, such as the jay, magpie, and nutcracker
any of various similar birds of other families
offensive an old or ugly woman
short for crowbar
as the crow flies as directly as possible
eat crow US and Canadian informal to be forced to do something humiliating
stone the crows stone

Word Origin for crow

Old English crāwa; related to Old Norse krāka, Old High German krāia, Dutch kraai

crow

2

verb (intr)

(past tense crowed or crew) to utter a shrill squawking sound, as a cock
(often foll by over) to boast one's superiority
(esp of babies) to utter cries of pleasure

noun

the act or an instance of crowing
Derived Formscrower, nouncrowingly, adverb

Word Origin for crow

Old English crāwan; related to Old High German krāen, Dutch kraaien
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for crew
n.

mid-15c., "group of soldiers," from Middle French crue (Old French creue) "an increase, recruit, military reinforcement," from fem. past participle of creistre "grow," from Latin crescere "arise, grow" (see crescent). Meaning "people acting or working together" is first attested 1560s. "Gang of men on a warship" is from 1690s. Crew-cut first attested 1938, so called because the style originally was adopted by boat crews at Harvard and Yale.

Crow

Indian tribe of the American Midwest, the name is a rough translation of their own name, Apsaruke.

crow

n.

Old English crawe, imitative of bird's cry. Phrase eat crow is perhaps based on the notion that the bird is edible when boiled but hardly agreeable; first attested 1851, American English, but said to date to War of 1812 (Walter Etecroue turns up 1361 in the Calendar of Letter Books of the City of London). Crow's foot "wrinkle around the corner of the eye" is late 14c. Phrase as the crow flies first recorded 1800.

crow

v.

Old English crawian "make a loud noise like a crow" (see crow (n.)); sense of "exult in triumph" is 1520s, perhaps in part because the English crow is a carrion-eater. Related: Crowed; crowing.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with crew

crow

In addition to the idiom beginning with crow

  • crown jewels
  • crow over

also see:

  • as the crow flies
  • eat crow
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.