Definition

1. Noun:
   • A small tool or hooklike implement: A "crotchet" can refer to a small hook or a tool with a hook-like shape.
   • A strange attitude or habit: It can also denote an odd, peculiar, or stubborn notion or whim.
   • A musical note having the time value of a quarter of a whole note: In music notation, a "crotchet" is a note with a specific duration, equivalent to a quarter note in American terminology.
   • A sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook: This meaning describes a bent or curved shape, like a hook.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The old carpenter used a small crotchet to pull the nail from the wood.
  • He has a crotchet about never wearing blue on Tuesdays.
  • The melody begins with a single crotchet on middle C.
  • The path followed a dangerous crotchet around the cliff face.

Advanced Usage

• "To have a crotchet": To hold an eccentric or peculiar belief or habit.
  • She has a crotchet about arranging all her books by color instead of author.

Variants and Related Words

• Crotchety (adj): Irritable, eccentric, or full of peculiar opinions.
  • The crotchety old man yelled at the children to stay off his lawn.

Synonyms

• Hook: A curved piece of metal or other material.
• Whim: A sudden desire or change of mind.
• Quarter note: The American musical term for a crotchet.
• Quirk: A peculiar behavioral habit.

Related Phrases

• A crotchet in one's head: An old-fashioned phrase for an odd or stubborn idea.
  • He's got some strange crotchet in his head about that.

Noun

1. a small tool or hooklike implement
2. a strange attitude or habit
3. a musical note having the time value of a quarter of a whole note
4. a sharp curve or crook; a shape resembling a hook