crystal

plural crystals · alternative obsolete christal · alternative obsolete christall · alternative obsolete chrystal · alternative obsolete chrystall · alternative obsolete cristal · alternative obsolete cristall · alternative obsolete crystall · alternative xtal

1. countableA solid composed of an array of atoms or molecules possessing long-range order and arranged in a pattern which is periodic in three dimensions.

   Synonyms: grain · Antonyms: glass

2. countableA piece of glimmering, shining mineral resembling ice or glass.
3. uncountableA fine type of glassware, or the material used to make it.
4. slanguncountableCrystal meth; methamphetamine hydrochloride.

   He tells me he's been shooting crystal, which I already pretty much know because he does not bother to keep his sleeves rolled down over the needle tracks.

   1968, Joan Didion, “Slouching Towards Bethlehem”, in Slouching Towards Bethlehem

5. countablefigurativelyobsoleteplural normallyuncountableA person's eye.

   Come, let's away. My loue, giue me thy Lippes: Looke to my Chattels, and my Moueables: [...] Goe, cleare they Chryſtalls. Yokefellowes in Armes, let vs to France

   Come, let's away. My love, kiss me. Look after my goods and property … Go, dry your eyes. Comrades in arms, let us to France

   1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 75, column 2

6. countableuncountableThe glass over the dial of a watch case.

alternative obsolete christal · alternative obsolete christall · alternative obsolete chrystal · alternative obsolete chrystall · alternative obsolete cristal · alternative obsolete cristall · alternative obsolete crystall · alternative xtal

1. literallynot comparableMade of crystal.

   The walls were crystal, and they seemed to have hundreds of different-colored lights shifting behind them.

   1985, Patricia C[ollins] Wrede, Talking to Dragons, New York, N.Y.: Tempo Books, →ISBN, page 146

   2 more examples

   Its ceiling was crystal, around on the wall / Thickly studded were rubies and diamonds rare; / But purer than crystal, and brighter than all / Of the jewels adorning her glittering hall, / Was the mermaiden languishing there.

   1887, Joseph W[arren] Smith, Gleanings from the Sea: Showing the Pleasures, Pains and Penalties of Life Afloat, with Contingencies Ashore, Andover, Mass.: […] the Author, page 116

   The uneven floor was crystal as well, as if there once had been huge crystals jutting up here, too, but ones that had been broken away and the surface crudely adzed.

   2000, Dennis L[ester] McKiernan, Silver Wolf, Black Falcon, Roc Books, →ISBN, page 439

2. figurativelynot comparableVery clear; coherent.

   "Do I make myself clear?" / "Crystal."

   1 more example

   […] the more faire and chriſtall is the skie, The vglier ſeeme the cloudes that in it flye: […]

   1595 December 9 (first known performance), William Shakespeare, “The Life and Death of King Richard the Second”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene i], page 23, columns 1–2

alternative Chrystal

1. A female given name from English.

   Crystal just stood there with a semisad look on her face.

   2013, Chuck Dozier, The Second Time Around, page 167

   3 more examples

   "Crystal's pretty. The name, I mean." Jewel shook her head. "It doesn't look like her. She looks like Beaver Cleaver." […] Crys chuckled. For the first time since she'd planted herself fiercely on Lusa's driveway that morning she sounded clear and transparent, like a child. Like the crystal she was.

   2000, Barbara Kingsolver, Prodigal Summer, HarperCollins, →ISBN, pages 121, 298

   "No prob. I'm wired, anyway...Christa or Crystal. Why'd Kayla peg her for a stripper?" "Because Gavin said she was a dancer," I said. "Well," he said, "name a girl Crystal and what's more likely? That she'll get a Ph.D. in biomechanics, or end up shaking her tail for tips?"

   2004, Jonathan Kellerman, Therapy, →ISBN, page 335

   CBS, the BBC's US news partner, said that VOA employees were notified in an email by Crystal Thomas, the USAGM human resources director.

   2025 March 16, Thomas Mackintosh & Merlyn Thomas, “Trump moves to close down Voice of America”, in BBC

2. A surname.

   In this exhilarating and often hilarious book, David Crystal examines why we devote so much time and energy to language games, how professionals make a career of them, and how young children instinctively take to them.

   1998, David Crystal, Language Play

3. A ghost town in Gunnison County, Colorado.
4. A town in Maine.
5. A city in Minnesota.
6. A census-designated place in New Mexico.
7. A city and town in North Dakota.
8. A town in Wisconsin.