critic
crit·ic /'kritik/ n 1 a person who gives judgments about the good and bad qualities of something, especially art, music, films etc, especially someone who does this as a job: She's the music critic for 'The Times'. 2 a person who dislikes and expresses strong disapproval of something or someone: an outspoken critic of the government's defence policy | It's easy to be an armchair critic. (=do nothing yourself but express disapproval of others)
crit·i·cal /'kritikəl/ adj 1 of or being a moment of great danger, difficulty, or uncertainty, when a sudden change to a better or worse condition is likely; of or being a CRISIS: a critical stage in his illness/in the negotiations | a matter of critical importance | We arrived at the critical moment. | The next two weeks will be critical (for the company). 2 providing a careful judgment of the good and bad qualities of something: a critical analysis/assessment of the government's record | critical writings | Her new book received critical acclaim. (=was praised by the critics) | It was a critical success (=critics liked it) but the public gave the thumbs down. 3 [(of)] finding fault; judging severely: Why are you so critical of everything I wear? -ly /kli/ adv
critical 'mass n [C;U] (in science) the amount of a substance necessary for an atomic CHAIN REACTION to take place: (fig.) The party never reached the critical mass; everyone sat around the whole evening looking uncomfortable.
critical path a'nalysis n a method of planning a large piece of work so that there will be few delays and the cost will be as low as possible
crit·i·cism /'kritisizəm/ n [C;U] 1 (an) unfavourable judgment or expression of disapproval: Criticism doesn't worry me. | This decision has come in for (=received) a great deal of criticism. 2 (an example of) the forming and expressing of judgments about the good or bad qualities of anything, especially artistic work; work of a critic: literary criticism
crit·i·cize also -cise BrE /'kritisaiz/ v [I;T] 1 [(for)] to judge with disapproval; point out the faults of: The report strongly criticizes the police for failing to deal with this problem. 2 to make judgments about the good and bad points of: It's hard to criticize one's own work.
cri·tique /kri'ti:k/ n an article, book etc criticizing something, such as the work of a writer
crit·ter /'kritər/ n AmE infml a creature
croak' /krəʊk/ v 1 [1] to make a deep low noise such as a FROG makes 2 [I;T] to speak with a rough voice as if you have a sore throat 3 [I] slang to die
croak² n a croaking noise
Cro·at /'krəʊæt/n 1 someone who comes from Croatia 2 [C, U] the language of Croatia, a form of SERBO-CROAT
Cro·a·tia /krəʊ'eɪʃ/ a country in Eastern Europe between Hungary and the Adriatic Sea. Population: 5,379,455 (2001). Capital: Zagreb. It was part of Yugoslavia until 1991.
-Croatian n, adj
cro-chet' /'krəʊʃeɪ||kroʊ'feɪ/ n [U] (examples of) the art of making clothes, tablecloths etc with a special hooked needle (crochet-hook)
crochet v [1;T] to make by means of crochet: to crochet a shawl ➜ compare KNIT
crock¹ /krɒk||kra:k/ n a clay pot
crock² n infml 1 especially BrE an old car 2 a weak old person: We old crocks can't run like you.
CR
C
Crocker, Betty ➡ see
Betty CROCKER
crock·e·ry /'krɒkərɪl'kra:-/ especially BrE
ll
earthenware especially AmE - n [U] cups, plates etc made from baked clay
Crock·ett, Da·vy /'krɒkɪt||'kra:-, 'dervi/ (1786-1836) a US FRONTIERSMAN who became a member of CONGRESS and was later killed trying to defend the ALAMO
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Davv Crockett
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CULTURAL NOTE In pictures, Davy Crockett is shown wearing clothes made from brown leather and a hat made from a RACOON tail. A popular song from a 1950s US television programme about him contains the well-known words 'Davy, Davy Crockett, king of the wild frontier'.
crock of 'gold n a pot of gold which is supposed to be found at the end of a RAINBOW (=an arch with seven colours in the sky)
croc·o·dile /
/'krɒkədail
||'kra:-/ n pl. -diles
or
-dile 1 [C] a large REPTILE that lives on land and in lakes and rivers in the hot wet parts of the world. It has a long hard-skinned body and a long mouth with many teeth. ➡ compare ALLIGATOR 2 [U] the skin of this animal used as leather: crocodile shoes 3 [C] BrE a line of people, especially schoolchildren, walking in pairs 4 in a while, crocodile ➡ see ALLIGATOR
'crocodile
Crocodile Dun'dee humorous US film about an Australian CROCODILE hunter called Crocodile Dundee who goes to New York City
crocodile
crocodile tears /'krɒkədaɪl, tiəzl'kra:kədəil, tiərz/n [P] insincere tears or other insincere signs of sorrow or sympathy
cro-cus/'krəʊkəs/ n a small low-growing plant with a single purple, yellow, or white flower which opens in early spring ➡ see picture at FLOWER
Croe-sus /'kri:sǝs/ (?-546 BC) a king of Lydia in ASIA MINOR, known for being very rich. People sometimes say that someone is 'as rich as Croesus' to mean that the person is extremely rich.
croft /kroft||krɒ:ft/ n BrE a very small farm, especially in Scotland
Croft, Lara an ANIMATED female character in a popular computer game called Tomb Raider, known for being very sexually attractive
croft-er /'krɒftə||'krɒ:f-/ n BrE a person who lives and works on a croft
crois-sant croissant
/'kwɑ:sɒŋ||krwa:'sa:nt/n a piece of bread shaped in a curve, that is originally from France and is eaten especially for breakfast
Cro-Ma-gnon /krəʊ 'mænjɒn||-'mægnən/ n an early type of human being who lived in Europe from around 60,000 BC to 10,000 BC, and who made tools from stone and bone and lived in CAVES: The Cro-Magnons wore jewellery made of shell and bone. Cro-Magnon adj: Cro-Magnon cave paintings 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 8 0 0
Cromp-ton, Rich-mal /'kromptən||'kra:-, 'ritʃməl/ (1890-1969) a British writer who wrote a famous series of humorous children's novels, known as the Just William books, about the adventures of an 11-year-old English schoolboy called William Brown who always gets into trouble
Crom-well, Ol-i-ver /'kromwell'krai-, 'ǝlǝvər ||'a:l-/ (1599-1658) an English military and political leader who led the army of Parliament against King CHARLES 1 in the English Civil War. After defeating the King, he made a REPUBLIC (=a country without a king or queen) called 'the Commonwealth', and ruled as Lord Protector until his death.
Cromwell, Thomas (1485-1540) an English politician who became King HENRY VIII's chief adviser, and made laws that gave Henry control of all the churches in England, instead of the Pope. He also organized the DISSOLUTION OF THE MONASTERIES.
'Cromwell Street a street in Gloucester, England where Fred