craft
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /kɹɑːft/
rhymes: -ɑːft
ipa: /kɹæft/
rhymes: -æft
ipa: /kɹɐːft/
Forms: form: craft
form: crafts
Etymology: From Middle English craft (“strength, skill”), from Old English cræft (“strength, skill”), from Proto-West Germanic *kraftu, from Proto-Germanic *kraftuz (“strength, power”); further origin obscure.
Cognate with German Kraft (“strength, power, force, energy, employee”) and Danish kraft (“strength, power, force”).
Senses: examples: text: By the craft of nature.
ref: 1526, William Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection:
glosses: Strength; power; might; force .
examples: text: The Cyclôpes were Brontês, Steropês, and Argês,—formidable persons, equally distinguished for strength and for manual craft […]
ref: 1846, George Grote, A history of Greece:
text: England should have had enough against a very ordinary Russia to complete the job but Rooney's removal robbed them of his craft and guidance and now increases the pressure on Thursday's meeting with Wales in Lens.
ref: 2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1-1 Russia”, in BBC Sport:
glosses: Intellectual power; skill; art.
Ability, skilfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning; ingenuity in constructing, dexterity .
examples: text: […]and the chiefe Priests, and the Scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 14:1:
text: […] you have that Crooked Wisdome, which is called Craft […]
ref: 1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC:
text: We have not the strength with which to fight this man; we must dissimulate, and win, if win we can, by craft.
ref: 1904, Jack London, The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC:
glosses: Intellectual power; skill; art.
Cunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception .
synonyms: craftiness
cunning
foxiness
guile
slyness
wiliness
glosses: Intellectual power; skill; art.
Occult art, magic .
glosses: A work or product of art .
raw_tags: in the general sense
examples: text: [Canton] has a large export trade in hand-made crafts, ivory and furniture.
ref: 1911 January 23, Timberman:
glosses: A work or product of art .
Handmade items, especially domestic or decorative objects; handicrafts .
raw_tags: in the general sense
examples: text: For your entente I shall a craft devise […] That ye shall haue your purpose euery dele.
ref: c. 1440, Generydes. A royal historie of the excellent knight Generides:
glosses: A device, a means; a magical device, spell or enchantment .
examples: text: […] Þe seuen craftes all he can […]
ref: a. 1325, Cursor Mundi, page 272:
glosses: Learning of the schools, scholarship; a branch of learning or knowledge, a science, especially one of the ‘seven liberal arts’ of the medieval universities .
examples: text: The craft of writing plays.
text: A poem […] is the work of the poet; the end and fruit of his labour and study. Poesy is his skill or craft of making; the very fiction itself, the reason or form of the work.
ref: 1640, Ben Jonson, Timber: or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter, page 213:
text: It is counted […] good workmanship in a Joyner, to have the craft of bearing his hand so curiously even, the whole length of a long Board.
ref: 1678, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick exercises, or The doctrine of handy-works:
synonyms: craftsmanship
workmanship
glosses: Skill, skilfulness, art, especially the skill needed for a particular profession .
examples: text: The carpenter's craft.
text: He learned his craft as an apprentice.
text: […] For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, / Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the people.
ref: 1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, page 281:
text: Fond as William was of the craft of the woods, he was the least likely of all men to let his sport stand in the way of his interest.
ref: 1871, Edward Augustus Freeman, The history of the Norman conquest, page 250:
text: The great preachers were masters of their craft.
ref: 1991, James Munson, The Nonconformists: In Search of a Lost Culture, page 113:
text: This was billed as the battle between Kane and his Poland opposite number Lewandowski but this was a game where it was possible to simply enjoy two masters of their craft at work.
ref: 2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport:
topics: arts
crafts
hobbies
lifestyle
synonyms: art
trade
handicraft
business
profession
glosses: A branch of skilled work or trade, especially one requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill, but sometimes applied equally to any business, calling or profession; the skilled practice of a practical occupation .
examples: text: She represented the craft of brewers.
glosses: A trade or profession as embodied in its practitioners collectively; the members of a trade or handicraft as a body; an association of these; a trade's union, guild, or ‘company’ .
examples: text: Quite near could also be seen several ancient wooden warships, and always a variety of craft slipping up and down the tideway.
ref: 1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 705:
topics: nautical
transport
qualifier: plural craft
glosses: A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .
Boats, especially of smaller size than ships. Historically primarily applied to vessels engaged in loading or unloading of other vessels, as lighters, hoys, and barges.
topics: nautical
transport
qualifier: plural craft
glosses: A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .
Those vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gunboats, generally commanded by lieutenants.
examples: text: “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action.
ref: 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
qualifier: plural craft
glosses: A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .
A woman.
examples: text: And whereas the continual Interruption of the Courſe and Paſſage of the Fiſh up the Rivers, by the daily drawing of Seins and other Fiſh-Craft, tends to prevent their Increaſe,[…]
ref: a. 1784, T. Green, “An Act for encouraging and regulating Fiſheries”, in Acts and Laws of the State of Connecticut, in America, page 79:
text: The whaling craft consists of harpoons, lances, lines, and sealskin buoys, all of their own workmanship.
ref: 1869 April 27, C. M. Scammon, “On the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of North America”, in Edward D. Cope, editor, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, volume 21, page 46:
text: From the mate’s boat they removed, at his direction, all whaling gear and craft except the oars and a single lance.
ref: a. 1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, “A Boy Who Went Whaling”, in The Highest Hit: and Other Selections by Newbery Authors, Gareth Stevens Publishing, published 2001, →ISBN, page 47:
text: […]Temple, a negro of New Bedford, who made ‘whalecraft’, that is, was a blacksmith engaged in working from iron the special utensils or ‘craft’ of the whaling trade.
ref: 1950, Discovery Reports, volume 26, Cambridge University Press, page 318:
text: The men raced about decks collecting the whaling craft and gear and putting them into the boats, while all the time the lookouts hollered from above.
ref: 1991, Joan Druett, Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea, 1820–1920, University Press of New England, published 2001, →ISBN, page 55:
topics: fishing
hobbies
lifestyle
glosses: Implements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc. .
Derived terms: sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: aerocraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: aircraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: arts and crafts
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: authorcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: boarding craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: campcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: CardCraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: countercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftaholic
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft beer
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft brewery
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft brew
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft centre
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: crafternoon
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftful
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftist
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftivism
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftivist
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft knife
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftless
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftlike
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftmaking
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftman
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftmaster
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft service
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft services
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftsmaster
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftsome
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftsperson
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craft store
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftswoman
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftsy
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftwork
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftworker
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: craftworking
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: crafty
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: fellowcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: fibrecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: flightcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: flycraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: folkcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: gardencraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: gentle craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: ghostcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: goldcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: gypsycraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: handcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: hobbycraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: homecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: housecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: hovercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: hydrofoil craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: Klankraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: knifecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: landing craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: landing craft tank
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: minecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: Minecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: mooncraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: multicraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: nanocraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: novelcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: papercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: personal water craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: pistolcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: pleasure craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: popcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: recraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: roadcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: rotorcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: runecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: sailcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: schoolcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: sense of craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: shuttlecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: silvercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: small craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: smallcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: smithcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: soulcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: spacecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: spellcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: spycraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: stagecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: starcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: statecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: stonecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: strawcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: subcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: sugarcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: the craft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: tradecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: undercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: versecraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: warcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: watercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: wildcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: witchcraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: writercraft
sense: Terms derived from craft (noun)
word: yarncraft