crotchet
Americannoun
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an odd fancy or whimsical notion.
- Synonyms:
- oddity, quirk, eccentricity, whimsy, caprice
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a small hook.
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a hooklike device or part.
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Entomology. a small, hooklike process.
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Music. Chiefly British. a quarter note.
-
a curved surgical instrument with a sharp hook.
noun
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Usual US and Canadian name: quarter note. music a note having the time value of a quarter of a semibreve
-
a small hook or hooklike device
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a perverse notion
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zoology a small notched or hooked process, as in an insect
Etymology
Origin of crotchet
1350–1400; Middle English crochet hook, staff with hook at end < Middle French ( see crochet); doublet of crocket
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
He has a crotchet about Russia, a theory about China; he gets quite beside himself in his anger over the anonymous leading articles of the London press.
From Modern Leaders: Being a Series of Biographical Sketches by McCarthy, Justin
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
