2 N‑COUNT The cradle is the part of a telephone on which the receiver rests while it is not being used. □ I dropped the receiver back in the cradle.
3 N‑COUNT A cradle is a frame which supports or protects something. □ He fixed the towing cradle round the hull.
4 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A place that is referred to as the cradle of something is the place where it began. □ [+ of ] Mali is the cradle of some of Africa's richest civilizations.
5 VERB If you cradle someone or something in your arms or hands, you hold them carefully and gently. □ [V n + in ] I cradled her in my arms. □ [V n] He was sitting at the big table cradling a large bowl of milky coffee.
6 PHRASE If something affects you from the cradle to the grave , it affects you throughout your life. □ The bond of brotherhood was one to last from the cradle to the grave.
craft ◆◇◇ /krɑː ft, kræ ft/ (crafts , crafting , crafted ) craft is both the singular and the plural form for meaning 1 . 1 N‑COUNT You can refer to a boat, a spacecraft, or an aircraft as a craft . □ With great difficulty, the fisherman manoeuvred his small craft close to the reef.
2 → see also landing craft
3 N‑COUNT A craft is an activity such as weaving, carving, or pottery that involves making things skilfully with your hands. □ All kinds of traditional craft industries are preserved here.
4 N‑COUNT You can use craft to refer to any activity or job that involves doing something skilfully. □ Maurice Murphy, one of the country's leading classical trumpeters, learnt his craft with the Black Dyke Mills band.
5 VERB If something is crafted , it is made skilfully. □ [be V -ed] The windows would probably have been crafted in the latter part of the Middle Ages. □ [V n] Many delegates were willing to craft a compromise. □ [V -ed] The author extracts the maximum from every carefully-crafted scene in this witty tale. □ [V -ed] …original, hand-crafted bags at affordable prices.
cra ft fair (craft fairs ) N‑COUNT A craft fair is an event at which people sell goods they have made.
crafti|ly /krɑː ft I li, kræ ft-/ → see crafty
crafts|man /krɑː ftsmən, kræ ft-/ (craftsmen ) N‑COUNT A craftsman is a man who makes things skilfully with his hands. □ The table in the kitchen was made by a local craftsman.
crafts|man|ship /krɑː ftsmənʃ I p, kræ ft-/
1 N‑UNCOUNT Craftsmanship is the skill that someone uses when they make beautiful things with their hands. □ [+ of ] It is easy to appreciate the craftsmanship of Armani.
2 N‑UNCOUNT Craftsmanship is the quality that something has when it is beautiful and has been very carefully made. □ His canoes are known for their style, fine detail and craftsmanship.
crafts|people /krɑː ftspiːp ə l, kræ ft-/ N‑PLURAL Craftspeople are people who make things skilfully with their hands. □ …highly-skilled craftspeople.
crafts|wom|an /krɑː ftswʊmən, kræ fts-/ (craftswomen ) N‑COUNT A craftswoman is a woman who makes things skilfully with her hands.
crafty /krɑː fti, kræ fti/ (craftier , craftiest ) ADJ If you describe someone as crafty , you mean that they achieve what they want in a clever way, often by deceiving people. □ …a crafty, lying character who enjoys plotting against others. □ A crafty look came to his eyes.
crag /kræ g/ (crags ) N‑COUNT A crag is a steep rocky cliff or part of a mountain.
crag|gy /kræ gi/
1 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A craggy cliff or mountain is steep and rocky. □ …tiny villages on craggy cliffs.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] A craggy face has large features and deep lines. □ He's a very small man with a lined, craggy face.
craic /kræ k/ in BRIT, also use crack N‑SING If you are talking about something that you did and you say 'the craic was great', or 'it was a good craic ', you mean that you had a really good time, especially because everyone was talking, joking, and laughing. [IRISH , INFORMAL ] □ They go to the pubs not for the drink alone, but for the crack.
cram /kræ m/ (crams , cramming , crammed )
1 VERB If you cram things or people into a container or place, you put them into it, although there is hardly enough room for them. □ [V n prep/adv] While nobody was looking, she squashed her school hat and crammed it into a wastebasket. □ [V n + full of ] I crammed my bag full of swimsuits and T-shirts and headed for the coast. □ [V n + with ] She crammed her mouth with caviar.
2 VERB If people cram into a place or vehicle or cram a place or vehicle, so many of them enter it at one time that it is completely full. □ [V prep] We crammed into my car and set off. □ [V n] Friends and admirers crammed the chapel at the small Los Angeles cemetery where Monroe is buried.
3 VERB If you are cramming for an examination, you are learning as much as possible in a short time just before you take the examination. □ [V + for ] She was cramming for her Economics exam. ● cram|ming N‑UNCOUNT □ It would take two or three months of cramming to prepare for Vermont's bar exam.
crammed /kræ md/
1 ADJ [usu v-link ADJ ] If a place is crammed with things or people, it is full of them, so that there is hardly room for anything or anyone else. □ [+ with/full of ] The house is crammed with priceless furniture and works of art.
2 ADJ If people or things are crammed into a place or vehicle, it is full of them. □ [+ into ] Between two and three thousand refugees were crammed into the church buildings.