Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Skill in doing or making something, as in the arts; proficiency. See Synonyms at art1.
- n. Skill in evasion or deception; guile.
- n. An occupation or trade requiring manual dexterity or skilled artistry.
- n. The membership of such an occupation or trade; guild.
- n. A boat, ship, or aircraft.
- v. To make by hand.
- v. Usage Problem To make or construct (something) in a manner suggesting great care or ingenuity: "It was not the Chamber of Commerce that crafted the public policies that have resulted in a $26 billion annual subvention to the farmers” ( William F. Buckley, Jr.)
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Strength; power; might.
- n. Ability; dexterity; skill; especially, skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs; adroitness; practical cunning.
- n. Specifically, cunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety.
- n. A device; a means; an art; art in general.
- n. A trade, occupation, or employment requiring the exercise of special skill or dexterity, especially of manual skill; a handicraft.
- n. The members of a trade, collectively; a guild.
- n. Nautical, a vessel; collectively, vessels of any kind.
- n. See the extract.
- To play tricks.
- To use skill upon; manipulate.
- Specifically, to build.
- n. A Scotch form of croft.
Wiktionary
- n. obsolete Strength; power; might.
- n. uncountable Ability; dexterity; skill, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs; adroitness; practical cunning.
- n. uncountable Cunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception.
- n. obsolete A device; a means; an art; art in general.
- n. countable The skilled practice of a practical occupation.
- n. The members of a trade collectively; guild.
- n. nautical Implements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc.
- n. nautical 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.
- n. nautical, British Royal Navy Those vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gun-boats, generally commanded by lieutenants.
- n. countable A vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space.
- n. countable A particular kind of skilled work.
- v. To make by hand and with much skill.
- v. To construct, develop something (like a skilled craftsman): "state crafting", "crafting global policing".
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete Strength; might; secret power.
- n. Art or skill; dexterity in particular manual employment; hence, the occupation or employment itself; manual art; a trade.
- n. Those engaged in any trade, taken collectively; a guild.
- n. Cunning, art, or skill, in a bad sense, or applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; skill or dexterity employed to effect purposes by deceit or shrewd devices.
- n. (Naut.) A vessel; vessels of any kind; -- generally used in a collective sense.
- v. obsolete To play tricks; to practice artifice.
WordNet 3.0
- v. make by hand and with much skill
- n. the skilled practice of a practical occupation
- n. a vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space
- n. shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception
- n. people who perform a particular kind of skilled work
- n. skill in an occupation or trade
Etymologies
- From Middle English, from Old English cræft ("physical strength, might, courage, science, skill, art, ability, talent, virtue, excellence, trade, handicraft, calling, work or product of art, hex, trick, fraud, deceit, machine, instrument"), from Proto-Germanic *kraftaz (“power”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, wind”). Cognate with Eastern Frisian craft ("strength"), West Frisian krêft ("strength"), Dutch kracht ("strength, force, power"), German Kraft ("strength, force, power"), Swedish kraft ("power, force, drive, energy"), Icelandic kraftur ("power"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old English cræft. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Throughout the previous part of the world's history art and craft have been one and the same, at the utmost distinguishable only from a different point of view: _craft_ from the practical side, _art_ from the contemplative.”
“More of a marketing slogan than a brewing style, the term craft brewery was chosen to replace micro-brewery just as the segment began to grow six or seven years ago.”
“For many people the phrase "craft and design" might conjure up images of hand-thrown porcelain tableware, avant-garde jewelry, studio furniture and "fiber art," and indeed the art fairs, museums and galleries that focus on contemporary craft and design present quite a lot of this kind of work.”
The Huffington Post: Sarah Archer: The Material Is the Message
“That's the term craft brewers use for regular American lagers, because the only time they would drink them is after mowing the lawn.”
“I believe the craft is the most important element in any artist's work, and”
An Interview with Carlos Ruiz Zafón about The Shadow of the Wind
“For some time I sat upon a bench, what she called a craft table, and waited with other scraps of this and that.”
“This craft is the first of its kind, and will require an almost windless day to successfully cross the channel.”
“Paying someone who takes pride in his work and puts his heart and soul into his craft is always money well-spent, in my mind.”
“Just wish you'd delve a bit deeper into the craft is all.”
Rumor: Keanu Reeves as Spike in Cowboy Bebop Movie?! « FirstShowing.net
“I mean, love of the craft is all well and good but if actors and directors are going to get all the glory ... why not have them shoulder the blame for my not-in-the-mood-right-now writing?”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘craft’.
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Phonestheme: CR- (or KR-)
Grateful credit to pterodactyl and http://reocities.com/SoHo/Studios/9783/phond1.html.
crook, crack, crane, cremains, cranberries, crimp, crow, crunch, crash, creak, croak, cronk and 94 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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He Goes a-Pickarooning
Here be a trove of words and phrases associated (fore or aft) with picarooning / pickarooning, scavenged from Google Books citations.
The Prince Edward Island folksong Mick Riley inspi...wagabone, privateer, at every corner, up and down, pirate, expeditions, life, look, rascals, expedition, literary, adventurers and 53 more...
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This intriguing novel .... is a taut,...
Crimes committed by book reviewers. Terms here are culled shamelessly from a recent New York Times blog post, and the comments that it generated.
Seven Deadly Sins
See a...poignant, compelling, taut, lyrical, spare, eschew, limn, craft, nuanced, contrived, majestic, subtle and 52 more...
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National Library Agenda Summit
nla2006, summit, agenda, library, ala, diversity, education, learning, continuous, scan, environmental, plan and 646 more...
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strangelyrouge's Words
glockenspiel, gewgaw, jetsam, flotsam, gripe, grab, wench, whilst, betwixt, hither, thither, yonder and 1034 more...
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Masonry
Due to my absolute ignorance of masonry and masonic terms, this list is shamelessly copied from this masonic dictionary.
Feel free to add words (as soon as I complete my transcription).abif, accepted, accord, active member, adjournment, admonish, adoration, adversity, affiliate, affirmation, lawful age, aid of deity and 143 more...
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Words I have to learn
exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
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#1
Words I Like
abide, sashay, microbial, scented, nature, amorphous, unknown, imagine, photogenic, soft, silken, history and 188 more...
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beatricks's Words
tremendous, naiad, thrush, samsara, thronging, nascent, broom, aristeia, streak, susurrant, reverberate, resistentialism and 352 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (C)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
cacophony, cad, cajole, calamity, camomile, camphor, candlemas, candy apple, canopy, canticle, caparison, caravan and 304 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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My List
A list of words that I have generated over time.
cairn, cacodaemoniacal, abash, abject, abjure, abstemious, abhor, abnegate, abnegation, abscond, abstruse, acclivity and 702 more...
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mandarine's Words
antepenultimate, metonymy, synecdoche, pop, kern, inherit, clique, scrumptious, macerate, murmur, kerning, veranda and 1068 more...
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kevinl's Words
indefatigable, dabble, befuddle, fin, infinity, might, futile, squirm, bookish, feint, liquidity, belt and 126 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, C
cryptoxanthin, convent, calcar, chuckle, campanile, covet, complexion, campestral, chirography, counterscarp, caliginous, catabolism and 722 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for craft.

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