Also 4–6 crawe, 6 craye. [ME. crawe, repr. an unrecorded OE. *craʓa, cogn. with OHG. chrago, MHG. krage, Du. kraag neck, throat; or else a. later Norse krage, Da. krave in same sense. The limitation of sense in English is special to this language.]
1. The CROP of birds or insects.
1388. Wyclif, 2 Kings vi. 25. The crawe of culueris. Margin, In Latyn it is seid of the drit of culuers; but drit is … takun here … for the throte, where cornes, etun of culueris, ben gaderid.
c. 1440. Promp. Parv., 101. Craw, or crowpe of a byrde, or oþer fowlys, gabus, vesicula.
1552. Huloet, Craye or gorge of a byrde, ingluuies.
1565–78. Cooper, Thesaurus, Chelidonii … Little stones in the crawe of a swallow.
1604. Drayton, Owle, 75. The Crane … With Sand and Gravell burthening his Craw.
1774. Hunter, in Phil. Trans., LXIV. 313. Some birds, with gizzards, have a craw or crop also, which serves as a reservoir, and for softening the grain.
1855. Longf., Hiaw., viii. 209. Till their craws are full with feasting.
1855. Thackeray, Newcomes, II. 35. Such an agitation of plumage, redness of craw, and anger of manner as a maternal hen shows.
2. transf. a. The stomach (of man or animals). humorous or derisive.
1573. A. Anderson, Exp. Benedictus, 43 (T.). To gorge their craws with bibbing cheer.
1581. J. Bell, Haddon’s Answ. Osor., 320 b. Stuffing their crawes with most exquisite vyandes.
1791. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Remonstrance, Wks. 1812, II. 449. They smite their hungry craws.
1822. Byron, Juan, VIII. xlix. As tigers combat with an empty craw.
† b. To cast the craw: to vomit. Obs.
a. 1529. Skelton, El. Rummyng, 489. Such a bedfellow Would make one cast his craw.
† 3. transf. The breast of a hill. Obs. rare.
a. 1658. Cleveland, May Day, ii. Phœbus tugging up Olympus craw.
† b. Humorously applied to a cravat, falling over the chest in a broad fold of lace or muslin.
See Fairholt s.v. Neckcloth.
1787. ‘G. Gambado,’ Acad. Horsemen (1808), p. xiii. The creatures with monstrous craws.
1790. Poetry, in Ann. Reg., 135.
| Now, at his word, th’ obedient muslin swells, | |
| And beaux, with ‘Monstrous Craws,’ peep out at pouting belles. |
4. Comb. † craw-bone, the ‘merry-thought’ of a bird, which lies over the craw; craw-thumper (slang), one who beats his breast (at confession); applied derisively to Roman Catholic devotees; so craw-thump v.
1611. Cotgr., Bruchet, the craw-bone, or merrie thought of a bird.
1785. Wolcott (P. Pindar), Ode to R. A.’s, Wks. 1812, I. 93. We are no Craw-thumpers, no Devotees.
1797–1802. G. Colman, Br. Grins, Knt. & Friar, I. xxxv. Sir Thomas and the dame were in their pew Craw-thumping upon hassocks.
1873. Slang Dict., Craw thumper, a Roman Catholic. Compare Brisket-beater.
