crotchets
plural of crotchet
Source: Wiktionary
Crotch"et (krch"t; 224), n. Etym: [F. crochet, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source as croc hook. See Crook, and cf. Crochet, Crocket, Crosier.]
1. A forked support; a crotch. The crotchets of their cot in columns rise. Dryden.
2. (Mus.)
Definition: A time note, with a stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note.
3. (Fort.)
Definition: An indentation in the glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is placed.
4. (Mil.)
Definition: The arrangement of a body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.
5. (Print.)
Definition: A bracket. See Bracket.
6. (Med.)
Definition: An instrument of a hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a fetus. Dunglison.
7. A perverse fancy; a whim which takes possession of the mind; a conceit. He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by crotchets that he could never explain to any rational man. De Quincey.
Crotch"et, v. i.
Definition: To play music in measured time. [Obs.] Donne.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
14 March 2025
(noun) the relation between two different kinds of organisms in which one receives benefits from the other by causing damage to it (usually not fatal damage)
The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.
