crutch /ˈkɹʌt͡ʃ/noun 7verb 4forms 3 noun7 •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. •(figurative) 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. •(slang) An improvised device, usually made from a piece of cardboard, to hold the last end of a joint. •A crotch; the area of body where the legs fork from the trunk. •A form of pommel for a woman's saddle, consisting of a forked rest to hold the leg of the rider. •A forked stanchion or post; a crotch. •A knee, or piece of knee timber. verb4 •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. — 1682 •To move on crutches. •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. — 2010 •to stir with a crutch. formscrutched · crutching · crutches
