Cruck
noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A sturdy timber with a curve or angle used for primary framing of a timber house, usually used in pairs.
"1952: To construct such a house, it is necessary to select an oak with a branch growing out at an angle of about 45°; the upper part of the tree, above the fork, having been cut off, the trunk and branch are roughly squared and divided in half . If the two halves are then placed opposite one another, with the branch ends pegged together, they constitute what was usually known as a 'cruck' or, more correctly, 'a pair of crucks'. — L.F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 195."
- 2 A vehicle that has features of both a car and a truck.
"It was a car/truck. The cab had two seats like a car and the back had a flat cut out for cargo like a truck. People used to call it a 'Cruck'."
- 1 To make lame. dialectal, transitive
Example
More examples"1952: To construct such a house, it is necessary to select an oak with a branch growing out at an angle of about 45°; the upper part of the tree, above the fork, having been cut off, the trunk and branch are roughly squared and divided in half . If the two halves are then placed opposite one another, with the branch ends pegged together, they constitute what was usually known as a 'cruck' or, more correctly, 'a pair of crucks'. — L.F. Salzman, Building in England, p. 195."
Etymology
Perhaps from a dialectal variant of crutch or crook.
From blend of car + truck.
Related phrases
More for "cruck"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.