Emily Dickinson Lexicon

crackling, verbal adj. [see crack, n.]

Burning; fiery; hot; searing; scorched; [hyperbole] snapping; dry enough to make tiny audible sounds; [word play with “cracking”] wrinkled; painfully splitting because of dehydration.

cradle (-s), n. [OE cradol.] (webplay: rocking).

Small bed; rocking basket; resting place for an infant; little crib mounted on rockers.

craft, n. [OE cræft]

1. Boat; vessel; transport.
2. Skill; expertise; ability; art; specialty.
3. Vessel of flight; body of a bird; [fig.] poetry; writing.

crag, n. [Ir. and Gael. creag; Welsh craig, rock.]

Precipice; jagged cliff; rough outcropping; rugged rock that juts vertically from its surrounding.

cram, v. [OE crammian < Sw. krama, squeeze, press, strain.]

Crowd; cramp; overwhelm; overburden; become too heavy.

cranny, n. [Fr. cran, notch, cleft, niche, or jag.]

Crevice; crack; fissure; gap; chink; nook; small narrow opening.

crape, n. [mod. Fr.< crespe, crisp, minutely curled or frizzled.] (webplay: dress, mourning).

Dark funeral clothing; delicate plain fabric of black silk worn by those in mourning.

crash (Crashe's), n. [see crash, v.] (webplay: appears, breaking, earth, falling, houses, sound).

1. Gravity; consequence of falling; [fig.] death.
2. Collision; percussion; wreck; forceful impact; sharp sound; loud noise.
3. Shock; upheaval; stunning blow; [fig.] sudden change in point of view.

crash (-ed), v. [onomatopœic word related to crack.] (webplay: breaking, convulsions).

Break; collapse; fall suddenly away; scatter into pieces; [fig.] lose its breath control.

Crashe (-'s), [not a proper noun; ED's misspelling and capitalization of “crash”; see crash, n.]