crotchet

American  

[kroch-it] / ˈkrɒtʃ ɪt /

noun

1. an odd fancy or whimsical notion.

   Synonyms:

   oddity, quirk, eccentricity, whimsy, caprice

2. a small hook.

3. a hooklike device or part.

4. Entomology. a small, hooklike process.

5. Music. Chiefly British. a quarter note.

6. a curved surgical instrument with a sharp hook.

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crotchet British  

/ ˈkrɒtʃɪt /

noun

1. Usual US and Canadian name: quarter note.  music a note having the time value of a quarter of a semibreve

2. a small hook or hooklike device

3. a perverse notion

4. zoology a small notched or hooked process, as in an insect

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Etymology

Origin of crotchet

1350–1400; Middle English crochet hook, staff with hook at end < Middle French ( crochet ); doublet of crocket

Example Sentences

Ms Crofts described the crotchet part of the project as a "labour of love", and said she took it with her wherever she went so she could work on it during spare moments.

From BBC • Nov. 3, 2023

It’s also even in more mundane ways, in cross-stitch, in crotchet and quilting, creating beauty literally from the scraps on the margins.

From Washington Post • Jul. 12, 2022

But then, each of the dead has some crotchet or obsession.

From Washington Post • Apr. 8, 2015

"I can't read or write music," she said, "but if I were a musician, I'd have put a crotchet here instead of a quaver."

From The Guardian • May 8, 2013

It was a favourite crotchet with this writer, that heraldry did not owe its origin to any particular period or nation, but that it sprang from the light of nature.

From The Curiosities of Heraldry by Lower, Mark Antony