/kɹɑːft/, /kɹæft/, /kɹɐːft/
OriginFrom 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”).
- obsolete, uncountableStrength; power; might; force .
“By the craft of nature.”
- countable, uncountableAbility, skillfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning; ingenuity in constructing, dexterity .
“The Cyclôpes were Brontês, Steropês, and Argês,—formidable persons, equally distinguished for strength and for manual craft […]”
“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 W”
- countable, uncountableCunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception .
“[…]and the chiefe Priests, and the Scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.”
“[…] you have that Crooked Wisdome, which is called Craft […]”
“We have not the strength with which to fight this man; we must dissimulate, and win, if win we can, by craft.”
- countable, obsolete, uncountableOccult art, magic .
- countable, obsoleteA work or product of art .
- collective, countable, obsolete, plural, uncountableHandmade items, especially domestic or decorative objects; handicrafts .
“[Canton] has a large export trade in hand-made crafts, ivory and furniture.”
- countable, obsoleteA device, a means; a magical device, spell or enchantment .
“For your entente I shall a craft devise […] That ye shall haue your purpose euery dele.”
- countable, obsoleteLearning of the schools, scholarship; a branch of learning or knowledge, a science, especially one of the ‘seven liberal arts’ of the medieval universities .
“[…] Þe seuen craftes all he can […]”
- uncountableSkill, skilfulness, art, especially the skill needed for a particular profession .
“The craft of writing plays.”
“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.”
“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.”
- countable, pluralA 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 .
“The carpenter's craft.”
“He learned his craft as an apprentice.”
“[…] For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, / Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the people.”
- countableA 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’ .
“She represented the craft of brewers.”
- countableA vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .
“Thanks to British designer Ross Kemp, the world has been graced with a solar-powered watercraft that costs just a third of the price of your average powered water craft.”
- countable, uncountableBoats, especially of smaller size than ships. Historically primarily applied to vessels engaged in loading or unloading of other vessels, as lighters, hoys, and barges.
“Quite near could also be seen several ancient wooden warships, and always a variety of craft slipping up and down the tideway.”
- British-Royal-Navy, countable, uncountableThose vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gunboats, generally commanded by lieutenants.
- countable, figuratively, uncountableA woman.
““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.”
- countableImplements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc. .
“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,[…]”
“The whaling craft consists of harpoons, lances, lines, and sealskin buoys, all of their own workmanship.”
“From the mate’s boat they removed, at his direction, all whaling gear and craft except the oars and a single lance.”
- To make by hand and with much skill.
- To construct, develop something (like a skilled craftsman).
“state crafting; the process of crafting global policing”
- To combine multiple items to form a new item, such as armour or medicine.
Formscraft(plural) · crafts(plural) · crafts(present, singular, third-person) · crafting(participle, present) · crafted(participle, past) · crafted(past) · Kraft(alternative)