crimp

Definitions

1. 1.To pinch and hold; to seize.
2. 2.Hence, to entrap into the military or naval service; as, to crimp seamen. Coaxing and courting with intent to crimp him. Carlyle.
3. 3.(Cookery) To cause to contract, or to render more crisp, as the flesh of a fish, by gashing it, when living, with a knife; as, to crimp skate, etc. Crimping house, a low lodging house, into which men are decoyed and plied with drink, to induce them to ship or enlist as sailors or soldiers. -- Crimping iron. (a) An iron instrument for crimping and curling the hair. (b) A crimping machine. -- Crimping machine, a machine with fluted rollers or with dies, for crimping ruffles leather, iron, etc. -- Crimping pin, an instrument for crimping or puckering the border of a lady's cap.
4. 4.Easily crumbled; friable; brittle. [R.] Now the fowler . . . treads the crimp earth. J. Philips.
5. 5.Weak; inconsistent; contradictory. [R.] The evidance is crimp; the witnesses swear backward and forward, and contradict themselves. Arbuthnot.
6. 6.A coal broker. [Prov. Eng.] De Foe.
7. 7.One who decoys or entraps men into the military or naval service. Marryat.
8. 8.A keeper of a low lodging house where sailors and emigrants are entrapped and fleeced.
9. 9.Hair which has been crimped; -- usually in pl.
10. 10.A game at cards. [Obs.] B. Jonson. Boot crimp. See under Boot.

Source: Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).

Synonyms

Related questions

• What does "crimp" mean?
• What is another word for "crimp"?

Reverse-dictionary questions

Definition-first questions whose answer is crimp.

• What is hence, to entrap into the military or naval service; as, to crimp seamen. Coaxing and courting with intent to crimp him. Carlyle called?
• What is easily crumbled; friable; brittle. [R.] Now the fowler . . . treads the crimp earth. J. Philips called?
• What is weak; inconsistent; contradictory. [R.] The evidance is crimp; the witnesses swear backward and forward, and contradict themselves. Arbuthnot called?
• What is one who decoys or entraps men into the military or naval service. Marryat called?
• What is a keeper of a low lodging house where sailors and emigrants are entrapped and fleeced called?
• What is hair which has been crimped; -- usually in pl called?
• What is a game at cards. [Obs.] B. Jonson. Boot crimp. See under Boot called?