croft

[krawft, kroft]

noun British.

a small farm, especially one worked by a tenant.
a small plot of ground adjacent to a house and used as a kitchen garden, to pasture one or two cows, etc.; a garden large enough to feed a family or have commercial value.

Origin of croft

before 1000; Middle English, Old English: small field

croft

[krawft, kroft]

noun

a small, portable filing cabinet of table height, having drop leaves for use as a table.

Origin of croft

named after the Rev. Sir Herbert Croft (1757–1816), lexicologist, its inventor

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for croft

Contemporary Examples of croft

Eighty years after its publication, the eipc saga of croft farmers and their struggles is still selling steadily.
Want to Write a Book? Go to Iceland
Adam LeBor
May 26, 2014

Historical Examples of croft

And it's lucky she is, for she 'bout feeds that boy o' Croft's.
The Village Watch-Tower
(AKA Kate Douglas Riggs) Kate Douglas Wiggin
He drove the dog away from his croft and was very rude to Miss McLeod about it.
The Mystery of the Green Ray
William Le Queux
Have we not showed it to Mr. Croft, one of your own colleagues?
History of the United Netherlands, 1586-89, Vol. II. Complete
John Lothrop Motley
It consisted of a croft of two acres and one acre in the common field.
English Monastic Life
Abbot Gasquet
We put some hurdles together and carried him back thus to Croft House.
The Doctor's Red Lamp
Various

British Dictionary definitions for croft

croft

noun British

a small enclosed plot of land, adjoining a house, worked by the occupier and his family, esp in Scotland
Lancashire dialect a patch of wasteland, formerly one used for bleaching fabric in the sun

Word Origin for croft

Old English croft; related to Middle Dutch krocht hill, field, Old English creopan to creep

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 croft

Old English croft "enclosed field, small field," of unknown etymology. Crofter is 1799, originally Scottish.