gentle craft

American  

[jen-tl kraft] / ˈdʒɛn tl ˈkræft /

noun

1. Usually the gentle craft the sport of angling or fishing.

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Etymology

Origin of gentle craft

First recorded in 1590–1600

Example Sentences

Art of Fly Making, &c., comprising Angling & Dyeing of Colours, with engravings of Salmon & Trout Flies, shewing the process of the gentle craft as taught in the pages.

From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 1 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various

Such is the mode, such the fashion in the gentle craft of authorship.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, No. 383, September 1847 by Various

Aye more; it seeks to ingratiate itself, sometimes by force and sometimes by gentle craft and stratagem, into the good graces of that civilization which it has so mortally offended.

From The Arena Volume 18, No. 92, July, 1897 by Various

The old fellow did not stir; his little eyes watched his line eagerly; he was no novice in "the gentle craft."

From St. Nicholas Magazine for Boys and Girls, Vol. 5, May, 1878, No. 7. Scribner's Illustrated by Dodge, Mary Mapes

Piracy The word "piracy," since that gentle craft has disappeared from the high seas, has come commonly into use to mean free-booting with reference to literary property.

From Copyright: Its History and Its Law by Bowker, Richard Rogers