crow's-foot

American  

[krohz-foot] / ˈkroʊzˌfʊt /

noun

plural

crow's-feet

1. Usually crow's-feet. any of the tiny wrinkles at the outer corners of the eyes resulting from age or constant squinting.

2. Aeronautics. an arrangement of ropes in which one main rope exerts pull at several points simultaneously through a group of smaller ropes, as in balloon or airship rigging.

3. (in tailoring) a three-pointed embroidered design used as a finish, as at the end of a seam or opening.

4. crowfoot.

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crow's-foot British  

noun

1. (often plural) a wrinkle at the outer corner of the eye

2. an embroidery stitch with three points, used esp as a finishing at the end of a seam

3. a system of diverging short ropes to distribute the pull of a single rope, used esp in balloon and airship riggings

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Etymology

Origin of crow's-foot

1350–1400; Middle English; so called because likened to a crow's foot or footprint

Example Sentences

Annabeth ran her hand along some marks on the ground - a jagged crow’s-foot shape as long as a human body.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

There are, likewise, a species of sow-thistle, goose-grass, some crow's-foot, which has a very fine crimson flower, and two sorts of anthericum, one with a large orange flower, and the other with a blue one.

From A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 16 by Kerr, Robert

There is the crow's-foot violet, which grows in dry places and is a deep purple; also a little purple violet whose name I do not know.

From Harper's Round Table, June 25, 1895 by Various

You pick your way daintily along the edge of the road, for it is carpeted so thickly with sea-pinks and yellow and crimson crow’s-foot that you scarcely know where to step.

From Ladies-In-Waiting by Curtiss, Christine Tucke

VI Here, minion, fill the steaming cup that clears The skin I will not have exposed to jeers, And rub this wrinkle vigorously until The maddening crow’s-foot wholly disappears.

From Threads of Grey and Gold by Reed, Myrtle