A crutch is a stick whose top fits round or under the user's arm, which someone with an injured foot or leg uses to support their weight when walking.
I can walk without the aid of crutches.
I was on crutches for a while.
2. singular noun
If you refer to someone or something as a crutch, you mean that they give you help or support.
The calculator is a tool, not a crutch but it is being used as a crutch by many children.
He gave up the crutch of alcohol. [+ of]
3. countable noun
Your crutch is the same as your crotch.
[mainly British]
He kicked him in the crutch.
crutch in British English
(krʌtʃ)
noun
1.
a long staff of wood or metal having a rest for the armpit, for supporting the weight of the body
2.
something that supports or sustains
a crutch to the economy
3. British another word for crotch (sense 1)
4. nautical
a.
a forked support for a boom or oar, etc
b.
a brace for reinforcing the frames at the stern of a wooden vessel
verb
5. (transitive)
to support or sustain (a person or thing) as with a crutch
6. Australian and New Zealand slang
to clip (wool) from the hindquarters of a sheep
Word origin
Old English crycc; related to Old High German krucka, Old Norse krykkja; see crosier, crook
crutch in American English
(krʌtʃ)
noun
1.
any of various devices used, often in pairs, by lame people as an aid in walking; typically, a staff with a hand grip and a padded crosspiece on top that fits under the armpit
2.
anything one leans or relies on for support, help, etc.; prop
3.
any device that resembles a crutch
4. Archaic
the crotch of the human body
5. Nautical
a forked support for a spar when the sail is furled
verb transitive
6.
to support with or as with a crutch or crutches; prop up
Word origin
ME crucche < OE crycce, staff, akin to Ger krücke < IE base *ger-: see cradle
Examples of 'crutch' in a sentence
crutch
Patients are loaned the crutches and walking frames after ops but are supposed to return them.
The Sun (2016)
He can walk on crutches for short periods, but relies on his wheelchair.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Medics were able to save his limb with surgery and antibiotics, but he still needs crutches to walk three months on.
The Sun (2016)
I can now walk without crutches.
The Sun (2016)
They don't really need the conversational crutch of football, but they engage to connect with their colleagues.
Times, Sunday Times (2017)
I can now walk without crutches and I am working well with the medical team.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Yet it would be quite wrong to see them as crutches supporting a lame man.
Jenkins, Roy Truman (1986)
She said the practice had become a crutch for foreigners and discouraged integration.
The Sun (2007)
When she was arrested she walked using neither crutches nor a wheelchair.
The Sun (2013)
You deserve more than being her emotional crutch.
The Sun (2015)
And she still needs crutches to give her torso the stability to stay upright.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He can walk only short distances without the aid of crutches.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
The biggest difficulty is having to deal with life without using food as an emotional crutch.
The Sun (2012)
The chapel displays a pile of crutches and walking sticks left behind by visitors who claimed their ailments had been cured.
Times, Sunday Times (2010)
She spent three months on crutches.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
He uses crutches to walk about.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
She had back and hip problems and was in increasing pain, needing crutches to walk.
The Sun (2014)
He was confined to a wheelchair, and could walk only with the aid of crutches.
Eaton, John P & Haas, Charles A Titanic - Destination disaster (1987)
It's when we need all the crutches we can get.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
They shot eight hours of footage showing Mr Noble walking extended distances without a stick or crutch.
The Sun (2009)
He left Loftus Road with his leg in a brace and on crutches.
The Sun (2014)
Mum has used a stick, crutches or a wheelchair as long as I can remember.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Tonight they follow up a tip-off about a man working on a building site despite claiming he can't walk without the aid of crutches.
The Sun (2006)
His chin rests on his clenched left fist, while his right arm is leaning on a crutch - a support for his missing right leg.
Times, Sunday Times (2009)
She walked with crutches and braces - the result of an accident while washing a floor - but showed signs of mischief in her grey eyes.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In other languages
crutch
British English: crutch /krʌtʃ/ NOUN
A crutch is a stick which someone with an injured foot or leg uses to support them when walking.