crow's-foot

American  

[krohz-foot] / ˈkroʊzˌfʊt /

noun

crow's-feet plural

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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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

noun

• crow's-feet
  plural

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

She thrust her face close to the glass, to see whether some long-remembered wrinkle or crow's-foot had indeed vanished.

From English Prose A Series of Related Essays for the Discussion and Practice by Roe, Frederick William

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

There was holly and crow's-foot up in the hills, and David and Anne hitched big Ben to a cart and went after it.

From Mistress Anne by Wilson, F. Vaux (Francis Vaux)

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