Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Crisp?

\Crisp\ (kr?sp), a. [AS. crisp, fr. L. crispus; cf. carpere to pluck, card (wool), and E. harvest. Cf. {Crape}.] 1. Curling in stiff curls or ringlets; as, crisp hair. 2. Curled with the ripple of the water. [Poetic] You nymphs called Naiads, of the winding brooks . . . Leave jour crisp channels. --Shak. 3. Brittle; friable; in a condition to break with a short, sharp fracture; as, crisp snow. The cakes at tea ate short and crisp. --Goldsmith. 4. Possessing a certain degree of firmness and freshness; in a fresh, unwilted condition. It [laurel] has been plucked nine months, and yet looks as hale and crisp as if it would last ninety years. --Leigh Hunt. 5. Lively; sparking; effervescing. Your neat crisp claret. --Beau. & Fl. 6. Brisk; crackling; cheerful; lively. The snug, small room, and the crisp fire. --Dickens.
\Crisp\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Crisped} (kr?spt); p. pr. & vb. n. {Crisping}.] [L. crispare, fr. crispus. See {Crisp}. a. ] 1. To curl; to form into ringlets, as hair, or the nap of cloth; to interweave, as the branches of trees. 2. To cause to undulate irregularly, as crape or water; to wrinkle; to cause to ripple. Cf. {Crimp}. The lover with the myrtle sprays Adorns his crisped tresses. --Drayton. Along the crisped shades and bowers. --Milton. The crisped brooks, Rolling on orient pearl and sands of gold. --Milton. 3. To make crisp or brittle, as in cooking. {Crisping iron}, an instrument by which hair or any textile fabric is crisped. {Crisping pin}, the simplest form of crisping iron. --Is. iii. 22.
\Crisp\, v. i. To undulate or ripple. Cf. {Crisp}, v. t. To watch the crisping ripples on the beach. --Tennuson.
\Crisp\, n. That which is crisp or brittle; the state of being crisp or brittle; as, burned to a crisp; specifically, the rind of roasted pork; crackling.