▪ I. crave, v.
(kreɪv)
Forms: 1 crafian, 2–5 crauen, 4– craue, crave; (also 5 crawyn, 5–6 Sc. craif(f, crayff).
[OE. crafian:—OTeut. type *kraƀôjan; akin to which ON. had in same sense kręfja (:—kraƀjan), Sw. kräfva, Da. kræve to demand, require, exact: cf. ON. krafa fem. craving, demand. Not known elsewhere in Teutonic, but kraƀ-, kraf- has been conjectured to be the root of craft, with a radical sense of ‘to force, exact’.]
† 1. trans. To demand (a thing), to ask with authority, or by right. Obs.
| c 1025 Cnut's Sec. Laws 70 in Thorpe I. 412 Ȝif hwa wite crafiᵹe. 1070 OE. Chron., Þæt he [Lanfranc] mid rihte crafede þas þa he crafede. Ibid., Eal þæt se arceb' æt him crafede eadmedlice ᵹefylde. c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 1667 Quatso ðu wilt for hire crauen, Aske it wið skil and ðu salt hauen. c 1320 Cast. Love 249 And þeuwe and þral may not craue Þorw riht non heritage to haue. Ibid. 257 Þat mowe his heritage craue. |
† b. To demand the presence of (a person) before a tribunal; to ‘appeal’, to summon; to prosecute. Obs. [Cf. 11th c. Anglo-L. cravare ‘postulare, in judicium mittere’, Du Cange.]
| c 1000 Sax. Leechd. III. 288 Ðæt man..crafode hine on hundrede. a 1300 E.E. Psalter cxviii. 121 Noght gif þou me to me cravand [L. persequentibus me]. Ibid. 122 Noght þe proude sal crave me [L. non calumnientur mihi superbi]. |
c. Here perhaps belongs the Sc. Law use: To ask (as of right) from a legal tribunal.
| 1681 Stair Inst. iv. 38 §28 [Entitled] to compete and crave preference. 1818 [see 3]. 1881 Alloa Advertiser No. 1617. 3/1 They will crave interdict in the Court of Session. |
2. To ask earnestly, to beg for (a thing), esp. as a gift or favour. Const. of, from († at) a person.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 8400 (Cott.) For na ȝerning þat i haue, Ani couenand of þe to craue. c 1300 Havelok 633 He sat up, and crauede bred. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 60 Þe erle com himself mercy for to craue. c 1590 Greene Fr. Bacon v. 80 To crave some succour of the jolly friar. 1592 Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 113 Madam your mother craues a word with you. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits xiv. (1596) 239 Salomon..craued wisdom from heaven. 1611 Bible Mark xv. 43 Ioseph..went in boldly vnto Pilate, and craued the body of Iesus. 1709 Steele Tatler No. 193 ¶3, I the rather make bold to crave your Advice. 1839–40 W. Irving Wolfert's R. (1855) 258 The cavalier..knelt and craved a benediction. 1868 J. T. Nettleship Ess. Browning's Poetry ii. 73, I must crave the indulgence of the philosophic reader. |
b. Often in the courteous or apologetic phrases to crave pardon, crave leave, etc. Cf. beg v. 3.
| 1575–6 Thynne in Animadv. Introd. (1865) 54 Cravinge pardonne for my tedious writinge. 1666 Dryden Ann. Mirab. Pref. Wks. (Globe) 40, I must crave leave to tell you. 1736 Berkeley Disc. Wks. 1871 III. 421, I shall crave leave to make use of some unsuspected testimonies. 1820 Scott Monast. xvi, I crave leave to observe, that [etc.]. 1849 James Woodman v, Let me crave pardon for having detained you so long. |
c. To beg to know; ask to be told or informed.
| 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 180 If she denie to wed, Ile craue the day When I shall aske the banes. 1735 Pope Donne Sat. iv. 67 ‘Permit’ (he cries) ‘no stranger to your fame To crave your sentiment.’ 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. (1845) 35 He craved my name. |
d. To crave to do, or that something be done.
| c 1175 Pater Noster 74 in Lamb. Hom. 59 His nome..he hit haleȝe þet we crauen. c 1440 Boctus (Laud MS. 559) fol. 5 b, I woll not craue Yooure doughter ne yoour tresoure to haue. 1578 T. N. tr. Conq. W. India Pref 8, I do..but onely crave that it may please thee [etc.]. 1591 Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, ii. ii. 46 When Ladyes craue to be encountred with. 1645 Milton Tetrach. Wks. 1738 I. 246 Here are no Laws made, here only the execution of Law is crav'd might be suspended. a 1670 Hacket Abp. Williams ii. (1692) 4 The Keeper craved to be heard. |
e. To crave of a person to do a thing (obs.), or that he do something.
| 1590 Spenser F. Q. i. ii. 26 Craving of you, in pitty of my state, To doe none ill. 1833 H. Martineau Cinnamon & P. iv. 65 The verdure seemed to crave of the light clouds..that they would descend in showers. |
3. To ask, request (a person) of, after, for a thing, to do something; also, with double object, a person a thing.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 2 Ȝe..habbeð moni dai iremd on me [v.r. icraued me] efter riwle. 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 278 Maistres þat techen clerkes crauen hure for mede. a 1400–50 Alexander 887 (Ashmole MS.) Litill kyngis..Caires into þe curte to craue him þar dettis. 1471 Ripley Comp Alch. v. in Ashm. (1652) 160 Dyscover yt not whoever thee crave. 1513 Douglas æneis iv. viii. 45 His auld promis na mair will I hum craif. 1663 Gerbier Counsel G v a, None of those who are pleased to accept it, are craved to Patronize it. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. xii, The crown, says he, canna be craved to prove a positive. |
4. To ask (a debtor) for payment, to dun. Sc.
| 1812 W. Ingram Poems 75 (Jam.) He..strives to pay what he is due, Without repeated craving. 1825–79 Jamieson s.v., ‘I crav'd him whenever I met him’. |
5. transf. Of persons (their appetites, etc.): To long or yearn for, to desire earnestly; to call for or demand, in order to gratify a desire or appetite; to have a craving for.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 4442 Ȝe couett & craue castels & rewmes. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. ii. (1586) 87 Who so ploweth his Olive Garden, craveth fruite. 1611 Bible Prov. xvi. 26 His mouth craueth it of him. 1669 Penn No Cross i. v. §11 What the Eye views not, the Heart craves not. 1737 Pope Hor. Epist. ii. ii. 212 If, when the more you drink, the more you crave, You tell the Doctor. 1875 Helps Ess., Aids Contentm. 11 Each of us craves a recognition of his talents and his labours. 1890 Besant Demoniac v. 57 The thing..that feeds the disease and that the disease constantly craves. |
6. fig. Of things. To need greatly, to require, to call for, demand (something necessary or desirable). (Const. also with inf. or obj. clause.)
| 1576 Fleming Panopl. Epist. 156 Necessitie craveth, that with him..conference be not refused. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 180 b, Bees..crave diligent regard, when they are about to swarm. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, ii. 44 His designes craue hast. 1611 ― Cymb. iv. ii. 362. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 183 The Ananas for goodnesse and shape may crave attention. 1770 Langhorne Plutarch (1879) I. 161 Other parts of matter..crave the force of fire as an informing soul. 1814 Scott Ld. of Isles iii. x, The time craves speed! 1820 ― Ivanhoe xvii, But come, fill a flagon, for it will crave some time to tune the harp. |
7. a. intr. Const. for, after.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 25823 (Cott.) For es na man mai merci haue þat wil noght ask and efter craue. c 1386 Chaucer Wife's Prol. 518 (Harl.) What thyng we may not lightly haue, Therafter wol we sonnest crie and craue. c 1440 York Myst. xxiv. 142 And for comforte þei call and craue. 1526 Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 248 b, It wyll craue importunely for sustenaunce. a 1641 Suckling (J.), Once one may crave for love. 1736 Butler Anal. i. iii. 66 Vices..like so many harpies, craving for their accustomed gratification. a 1862 Buckle Civiliz. (1869) III. v. 380 They taught the men of their generation to crave after the unseen. |
b. absol.
| 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. vii. 49 And non so bold beggere to bydden and craue. c 1460 Towneley Myst. 11 (Cain) It is better hold that I have Then go from doore to doore and crave. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres ii. i. 24 Not begging nor crauing with bolde and shamelesse faces. 1642 Fuller Holy and Prof. St. ii. xix.* 127 He who gives to day may crave to morrow. 1693 Dryden Persius (J), Who, spite of all his store, Is ever craving, and will still be poor. 1865 S. Baring-Gould Werewolves xiv. 248 At that time the old man was craving with hunger. |
Hence craved ppl. a., begged, entreated.
| 1614 Bp. Hall Recoll. Treat. 60 The last refuge of a craved, denied, and constrained courtesie? |
▪ II. crave, n.
(kreɪv)
[f. the verb.]
a. = craving. (Not in general use.)
| 1830 Fraser's Mag. I. 134 His crave and his vanity so far deluded him, that..he attempted to obtain distinction as an orator. 1862 Spectator 6 Dec. 1363/1 A crave for deeper knowledge. 1884 A. Forbes Chinese Gordon v. 144 The crave to be doing something had so overmastered him. |
b. Scots Law. A demand or claim addressed to the court. (Cf. crave v. 1 c.) Also ˈcraving vbl. n. in the same sense.
| 1707 in C. D. Bentinck Dornoch Cath. & Par. (1926) vii. 252 They might deem it to be their duty to grant Mr Bowie's crave for an Act of Transportability. 1913 Act 2 & 3 Geo. V c. 28 Sched. ii. (23) The sheriff may, at any time after the expiry of the induciae, upon a written craving being endorsed on the initial writ, decern in terms of the crave of the initial writ. 1938 St. Andrews Citizen 26 Mar. 2/2 Sheriff-Substitute D― S― granted declarator in terms of the crave. 1959 Jowitt Dict. Eng. Law I. 534/1 In sheriff court practice in Scotland part of the initial writ is called the crave. |