# crutch

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɹʌt͡ʃ/ · frequency rank #32,752

## Definitions
1. A device to assist in motion as a cane, especially one that provides support under the arm to reduce weight on a leg.
2. Something or someone that supports, often used negatively to indicate that it is not needed and causes an unhealthful dependency; a prop
3. A crotch; the area of body where the legs fork from the trunk.
4. A form of pommel for a woman's saddle, consisting of a forked rest to hold the leg of the rider.
5. A knee, or piece of knee timber.
6. A forked stanchion or post; a crotch.
7. An improvised device, usually made from a piece of cardboard, to hold the last end of a joint.

## Etymology
From Middle English crucche, from Old English cryċċ (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-West Germanic *krukkju, from Proto-Germanic *krukjō (“crutch, staff”), from Proto-Indo-European *grewg- (“wrinkle, bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *ger- (“to turn, bend”).
Cognate with Scots curche, crutch (“crutch, stilts”), Dutch kruk (“crutch”), Low German krukke, Krück (“crutch”), German Krücke (“crutch”), Swedish krycka (“crutch”). Latin crucia, crucca, croccia, crocia (“crutch”), and its descendants are ultimately from the Germanic.

## Easily confused with
- **catch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/catch-vs-crutch)
- **couch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/couch-vs-crutch)
- **crush** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crutch)
- **church** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/church-vs-crutch)
- **clutch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/clutch-vs-crutch)
- **crunch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crunch-vs-crutch)
- **crotch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crotch-vs-crutch)
- **crouch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crouch-vs-crutch)
- **crunchy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crunchy-vs-crutch)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ccrutch`, `crrutch`, `crtuch`, `cructh`, `crutcch`, `crutchh`, `cruthc`, `cruttch`, `curtch`, `rcutch`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/crutch