What does "crock" mean?
A stoneware or earthenware jar or storage container.
Crock
/kɹɒk/ name, noun, verb, slang
name, noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A stoneware or earthenware jar or storage container.
- Grammar: crock is listed as name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adobe, balker, balky horse, baloney.
- Useful contrasts: fact, reality, truth.
- Usage evidence: Believe me, everything he's told you is a crock.
How to use "crock"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "crock" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "crock" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "crock" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "crock" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "crock" is acting as name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adobe" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "crock", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A stoneware or earthenware jar or storage container.
"1590-96, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, 1750, The Works of Spenser, Volume 3, page 181, Therefore the Vulgar did about him flock / And cluster thick unto his leaſings vain; / Like fooliſh Flies about an Honey-Crock; / In hope by him great Benefit to gain, / And uncontrolled Freedom to obtain."
- 2 The loose black particles collected from combustion, as on pots and kettles, or in a chimney; soot; smut. uncountable
"[…] “here I stand talking to mere Mooncalfs, with Uncle Pumblechook waiting, and the mare catching cold at the door, and the boy grimed with crock and dirt from the hair of his head to the sole of his foot!”"
- 3 an earthen jar (made of baked clay) wordnet
- 4 A piece of broken pottery, a shard.
- 5 Colouring matter that rubs off from cloth. uncountable
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 nonsense; foolish talk wordnet
- 7 A person who is physically limited by age, illness or injury. UK
"old crocks’ home"
- 8 a black colloidal substance consisting wholly or principally of amorphous carbon and used to make pigments and ink wordnet
- 9 An old or broken-down vehicle (and formerly a horse or ewe). UK
"old crocks race"
- 10 Silly talk, a foolish belief, a poor excuse, nonsense. Canada, US, countable, slang, uncountable
"That's a bunch of crock."
- 11 A low stool.
"1709, Isaac Bickerstaff (Richard Steele), The Tatler, 1822, Alexander Chalmers (editor), The Tatler, 2007 Facsimile Edition, page 12, I then inquired for the person that belonged to the petticoat; and, to my great surprise, was directed to a very beautiful young damsel, with so pretty a face and shape, that I bid her come out of the crowd, and seated her upon a little crock at my left hand."
- 12 A patient who is difficult to treat, especially one who complains of a minor or imagined illness. derogatory
"Mumford (1970) noted that the terms ‘crock’, ‘gomer’, and ‘turkey’, were sometimes utilized by interns to designate different types of undesirable patients, and sometimes used synonymously."
Verb
- 1 To break something or injure someone.
""That last time I brought down Barry I crocked him. He's in his study now with a sprained ankle. ...""
- 2 To give off crock or smut. intransitive
- 3 soil with or as with crock wordnet
- 4 To transfer coloring through abrasion from one item to another.
"thus producing a permanent, definite color thereon which will not fade or crock, and at the same time using up all of the coloring matter."
- 5 release color when rubbed, of badly dyed fabric wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
- 6 To cover the drain holes of a planter with stones or similar material, in order to ensure proper drainage.
"The pots should be crocked for drainage to one-half their depth and the plants made moderately firm in the compost, as already indicated..."
- 7 To put or store (something) in a crock or pot. dialectal, transitive
"She filled the pail and carried it down to the springhouse to crock it and leave it to cool."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"Believe me, everything he's told you is a crock."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "crock"?
Common synonyms include: adobe, balker, balky horse, baloney, biscuit, bisque.
How do you use "crock" in a sentence?
Believe me, everything he's told you is a crock.
How do you pronounce "crock"?
Pronounced /kɹɒk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English crok, crokke (“earthenware jar, pot, or other container; cauldron; belly, stomach”) [and other forms], from Old English crocc, crocca (“crock, pot, vessel”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *krukkō, *krukkô (“vessel”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *grewg- (“vessel”). The English word is cognate with Danish and Norwegian krukke (“jar”), Dutch kruik (“jar, jug”), regional German Kruke (“crock”), Icelandic krukka (“pot, jar”), Old English crōg, crōh (“crock, pitcher, vessel”). See also cruse.
Etymology 2
Compare Welsh croeg (“cover”), Scots crochit (“covered”).