Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Craze?

\Craze\ (kr[=a]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Crazed} (kr[=a]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. {Crazing}.] [OE. crasen to break, fr. Scand., perh. through OF.; cf. Sw. krasa to crackle, sl[*a] i kras, to break to pieces, F. ['e]craser to crush, fr. the Scand. Cf. {Crash}.] 1. To break into pieces; to crush; to grind to powder. See {Crase}. God, looking forth, will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot wheels. --Milton. 2. To weaken; to impair; to render decrepit. [Obs.] Till length of years, And sedentary numbness, craze my limbs. --Milton. 3. To derange the intellect of; to render insane. Any man . . . that is crazed and out of his wits. --Tilloston. Grief hath crazed my wits. --Shak.
\Craze\, v. i. 1. To be crazed, or to act or appear as one that is crazed; to rave; to become insane. She would weep and he would craze. --Keats. 2. To crack, as the glazing of porcelain or pottery.
\Craze\, n. 1. Craziness; insanity. 2. A strong habitual desire or fancy; a crotchet. It was quite a craze with him [Burns] to have his Jean dressed genteelly. --Prof. Wilson. 3. A temporary passion or infatuation, as for same new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; as, the bric-a-brac craze; the [ae]sthetic craze. Various crazes concerning health and disease. --W. Pater.
\Craze\, n. (Ceramics) A crack in the glaze or enamel such as is caused by exposure of the pottery to great or irregular heat.