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crutch

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crutch

  • /ˈkɹʌt͡ʃ/
  • [ˈkʰɹʷʌ̹t͡ʃ]
  • [ˈkʰɹʷʌ̈t͡ʃ]

Rhymes with -ʌtʃ

Where it comes from

From Middle English crucche, from Old English cryċċ (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krukkju, from Proto-Germanic *krukjō (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewg- (“wrinkle, bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, bend”).

Cognate with Scots curche, crutch (“crutch, stilts”), Dutch kruk (“crutch”), Low German krukke, Krück (“crutch”), German Krücke (“crutch”), Swedish krycka (“crutch”). Latin crucia, crucca, croccia, crocia (“crutch”), and its descendants are ultimately from the Germanic.

noun crutches

  1. A device to assist in motion as a cane, especially one that provides support under the arm to reduce weight on a leg. He walked on crutches for a month until the cast was removed from his leg.
  2. figuratively Something or someone that supports, often used negatively to indicate that it is not needed and causes an unhealthy dependency; a prop. Alcohol became a crutch to help him through the long nights; eventually it killed him.
  3. A form of pommel for a woman's saddle, consisting of a forked rest to hold the leg of the rider.
  4. A knee, or piece of knee timber.
  5. A forked stanchion or post.
  6. slang An improvised device, usually made from a piece of cardboard, to hold the last end of a joint.

verb crutches · crutching · crutched

  1. transitive To support on crutches; to prop up. [I'll] haſten Og and Doeg to rehearſe, / Tvvo Fools that Crutch their Feeble Senſe on Verſe; / VVho by my Muſe to all ſucceeding times, / Shall live in ſpight of their ovvn Dogrell Rhimes.
  2. intransitive To move on crutches.
  3. transitive To shear the hindquarters of a sheep; to dag. After learning how to crutch at 13, he could dag 400 sheep in a day by the spring of 1965 and earned himself more than just a bit of pocket money.
  4. transitive, in soap making to stir with a crutch.

Translations

Every language

noun device to assist in motion as a cane

Españolmuleta
한국어목다리 mokdari, 목발 mokbal
日本語松葉杖 matsubazue
中文拐杖 guǎizhàng, 拐子 guǎizi, 腋杖 yèzhàng
हिन्दीबैसाखी baisākhī
Portuguêsmuleta, canadiana
Françaisbéquille
DeutschKrücke
Italianostampella, gruccia
Ελληνικάδεκανίκι dekaníki, πατερίτσα paterítsa
Românăcârjă
Русскийкосты́ль kostýlʹ
Tiếng Việtnạng
العربيةعُكَّاز ʕukkāz, عُكَّازَة ʕukkāza
עבריתקַב káv, קביים \ קַבַּיִם kabáyim

noun something that supports

Españolapoyo, soporte, muleta
Françaissoutien, support
DeutschStütze, Krücke
Italianostampella

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Cite this
MLA

"crutch." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crutch. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

crutch. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crutch

Chicago

"crutch." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crutch.

BibTeX
@misc{crutch_2026,
  title = {crutch},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crutch},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}