craft

plural crafts

1. obsoleteuncountableStrength; power; might; force .First known use 9th century

   By the craft of nature.

   1526, William Bonde, Pylgrimage of Perfection

   Synonyms: potence, strength, authority, disposition, force, might, potence, potency

2. Intellectual power; skill; art.
   1. countableuncountableAbility, skillfulness, especially skill in making plans and carrying them into execution; dexterity in managing affairs, adroitness, practical cunning; ingenuity in constructing, dexterity .First known use 9th century

      The Cyclôpes were Brontês, Steropês, and Argês,—formidable persons, equally distinguished for strength and for manual craft […]

      1846, George Grote, A history of Greece

      1 more example

      England should have had enough against a very ordinary Russia to complete the job but Rooney's removal robbed them of his craft and guidance and now increases the pressure on Thursday's meeting with Wales in Lens.

      2016 June 11, Phil McNulty, “England 1-1 Russia”, in BBC Sport

      Synonyms: technique, proficiency, ability, technique, aptitude, capacity, capability, competency

   2. countableuncountableCunning, art, skill, or dexterity applied to bad purposes; artifice; guile; subtlety; shrewdness as demonstrated by being skilled in deception .First known use 13th century

      […] you have that Crooked Wisdome, which is called Craft […]

      1651, Thomas Hobbes, Leviathan, or The Matter, Forme, & Power of a Common-wealth Ecclesiasticall and Civill, London: […] [William Wilson] for Andrew Crooke, […], →OCLC

      2 more examples

      […]and the chiefe Priests, and the Scribes sought how they might take him by craft, and put him to death.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Mark 14:1

      We have not the strength with which to fight this man; we must dissimulate, and win, if win we can, by craft.

      1904, Jack London, The Sea-Wolf (Macmillan’s Standard Library), New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC

      Synonyms: technique, proficiency, ability, technique, aptitude, capacity, capability, competency

   3. countableobsoleteuncountableOccult art, magic .First known use 13th century

      Synonyms: technique, proficiency, ability, technique, aptitude, capacity, capability, competency

3. countableobsoleteA work or product of art .First known use c. 1000
   1. collectivecountableobsoletepluraluncountableHandmade items, especially domestic or decorative objects; handicrafts .

      [Canton] has a large export trade in hand-made crafts, ivory and furniture.

      1911 January 28, Timberman

4. countableobsoleteA device, a means; a magical device, spell or enchantment .First known use 13th century

   For your entente I shall a craft devise […] That ye shall haue your purpose euery dele.

   c. 1440, Generydes. A royal historie of the excellent knight Generides

   Synonyms: charm, talisman, dwimmer, hex, amulet, charm, fetish, juju

5. countableobsoleteLearning of the schools, scholarship; a branch of learning or knowledge, a science, especially one of the ‘seven liberal arts’ of the medieval universities .First known use 13th century

   […] Þe seuen craftes all he can […]

   a. 1325, Cursor Mundi, page 272

6. uncountableSkill, skilfulness, art, especially the skill needed for a particular profession .First known use 9th century

   The craft of writing plays.

   2 more examples

   A poem […] is the work of the poet; the end and fruit of his labour and study. Poesy is his skill or craft of making; the very fiction itself, the reason or form of the work.

   1640, Ben Jonson, Timber: or Discoveries made upon Men and Matter, page 213

   It is counted […] good workmanship in a Joyner, to have the craft of bearing his hand so curiously even, the whole length of a long Board.

   1678, Joseph Moxon, Mechanick exercises, or The doctrine of handy-works

   Synonyms: craftsmanship, workmanship

7. countablepluralartsA branch of skilled work or trade, especially one requiring manual dexterity or artistic skill, but sometimes applied equally to any business, calling or profession; the skilled practice of a practical occupation .First known use since the 9th century

   The carpenter's craft.

   5 more examples

   He learned his craft as an apprentice.

   […] For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, / Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the people.

   1847, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Evangeline, A Tale of Acadie, page 281

   Fond as William was of the craft of the woods, he was the least likely of all men to let his sport stand in the way of his interest.

   1871, Edward Augustus Freeman, The history of the Norman conquest, page 250

   The great preachers were masters of their craft.

   1991, James Munson, The Nonconformists: In Search of a Lost Culture, page 113

   This was billed as the battle between Kane and his Poland opposite number Lewandowski but this was a game where it was possible to simply enjoy two masters of their craft at work.

   2021 September 8, Phil McNulty, “Poland 1-1 England”, in BBC Sport

   Synonyms: art, trade, handicraft, business, profession

8. countableA trade or profession as embodied in its practitioners collectively; the members of a trade or handicraft as a body; an association of these; a trade's union, guild, or ‘company’ .First known use 15th century

   She represented the craft of brewers.

9. countableplural craftA vehicle designed for navigation in or on water or air or through outer space .First known use since the 17th century

   Thanks to British designer Ross Kemp, the world has been graced with a solar-powered watercraft that costs just a third of the price of your average powered water craft.

   2013 August 6, Monique Rivilland, “This ski and surf combo could save your life”, in CNN Business, archived from the original on 18 Feb 2015

   1. countableuncountableplural craftnauticalBoats, especially of smaller size than ships. Historically primarily applied to vessels engaged in loading or unloading of other vessels, as lighters, hoys, and barges.

      Quite near could also be seen several ancient wooden warships, and always a variety of craft slipping up and down the tideway.

      1951 October, R. S. McNaught, “Lines of Approach”, in Railway Magazine, page 705

   2. British Royal Navycountableuncountableplural craftnauticalThose vessels attendant on a fleet, such as cutters, schooners, and gunboats, generally commanded by lieutenants.
   3. countablefigurativelyuncountableplural craftA woman.

      “A tight little craft,” was Austin’s invariable comment on the matron; and she looked it, always trim and trig and smooth of surface like a converted yacht cleared for action.

      1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter IX, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC

10. countablefishingImplements used in catching fish, such as net, line, or hook. Modern use primarily in whaling, as in harpoons, hand-lances, etc. .First known use 17th century

    The whaling craft consists of harpoons, lances, lines, and sealskin buoys, all of their own workmanship.

    1869 April 27, C. M. Scammon, “On the Cetaceans of the Western Coast of North America”, in Edward D. Cope, editor, Proceedings of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, volume 21, page 46

    4 more examples

    And whereas the continual Interruption of the Courſe and Paſſage of the Fiſh up the Rivers, by the daily drawing of Seins and other Fiſh-Craft, tends to prevent their Increaſe,[…]

    a. 1784, T. Green, “An Act for encouraging and regulating Fiſheries”, in Acts and Laws of the State of Connecticut, in America, page 79

    From the mate’s boat they removed, at his direction, all whaling gear and craft except the oars and a single lance.

    a. 1923, Charles Boardman Hawes, “A Boy Who Went Whaling”, in The Highest Hit: and Other Selections by Newbery Authors, Gareth Stevens Publishing, published 2001, →ISBN, page 47

    […]Temple, a negro of New Bedford, who made ‘whalecraft’, that is, was a blacksmith engaged in working from iron the special utensils or ‘craft’ of the whaling trade.

    1950, Discovery Reports, volume 26, Cambridge University Press, page 318

    The men raced about decks collecting the whaling craft and gear and putting them into the boats, while all the time the lookouts hollered from above.

    1991, Joan Druett, Petticoat Whalers: Whaling Wives at Sea, 1820–1920, University Press of New England, published 2001, →ISBN, page 55

present singular third person crafts · participle present crafting · participle past crafted · past crafted

1. To make by hand and with much skill.
2. To construct, develop something (like a skilled craftsman).

   state crafting; the process of crafting global policing

3. video gamesTo combine multiple items to form a new item, such as armour or medicine.

alternative Kraft

1. A surname.