Crotch"et (kr?ch"?t; 224), n. [F.
crochet, prop., a little hook, a dim. from the same source
as croc hook. See Crook, and cf. Crochet,
Crocket, Crosier.] 1. A forked
support; a crotch.
The crotchets of their cot in columns
rise.
Dryden.
2. (Mus.) A time note, with a
stem, having one fourth the value of a semibreve, one half that
of a minim, and twice that of a quaver; a quarter note.
3. (Fort.) An indentation in the
glacis of the covered way, at a point where a traverse is
placed.
4. (Mil.) The arrangement of a
body of troops, either forward or rearward, so as to form a line
nearly perpendicular to the general line of battle.
5. (Print.) A bracket. See
Bracket.
6. (Med.) An instrument of a
hooked form, used in certain cases in the extraction of a
fetus. Dunglison.
7. A perverse fancy; a whim which takes
possession of the mind; a conceit.
He ruined himself and all that trusted in him by
crotchets that he could never explain to any rational
man.
De Quincey.
Crotch"et, v. i. To play music
in measured time. [Obs.] Donne.
