a group of persons involved in a particular kind of work or working together: the crew of a train; a wrecking crew.
2.
Nautical.
a.
the people who sail or operate a ship or boat.
b.
the common sailors of a ship's company.
c.
a particular gang of a ship's company.
3.
the people who fly or operate an aircraft or spacecraft.
4.
the team that rows a racing shell: varsity crew.
5.
the sport of racing with racing shells: He went out for crew in his freshman year.
6.
a company; crowd: He and his crew of friends filled the room.
7.
any force or band of armed men.
–verb (used with object)
8.
to serve as a member of a crew on (a ship, aircraft, etc.).
9.
to obtain or employ a crew for (a ship, aircraft, etc.).
–verb (used without object)
10.
to serve as a member of a crew.
[Origin: 1425–75; late ME crewe augmentation, hence reinforcements, body of soldiers < MF creue, lit., increase, n. use of fem. of OF creu, ptp. of creistre to grow < L créscere; see crescent]
A group of people working together; a gang: a crew of stagehands.
A group of people gathered together temporarily; a crowd.
All personnel operating or serving aboard a ship.
All of a ship's personnel except the officers.
All personnel operating or serving aboard an aircraft in flight.
A team of rowers, as of a racing shell.
The sport of rowing.
All personnel operating or serving aboard a ship.
All of a ship's personnel except the officers.
All personnel operating or serving aboard an aircraft in flight.
A team of rowers, as of a racing shell.
The sport of rowing.
Sports
A team of rowers, as of a racing shell.
The sport of rowing.
v.
crewed, crew·ing, crews
v.
intr.
To serve as a member of a crew: crewed on a sloop.
v.
tr.
To serve as a crew member on: The space station will be crewed by a team of eight people.
[Middle English creue, military reinforcement, from Old French, increase, from feminine past participle of creistre, to grow, from Latin crēscere; see ker-2 in Indo-European roots.]
c.1437, from O.Fr. creue "an increase, recruit, military reinforcement," from fem. pp. of creistre "grow," from L. crescare "arise, grow." Meaning "people acting or working together" is first attested 1570. "Gang of men on a warship" is from 1692. Crew-cut first attested 1938, so called because the style was originally adopted by boat crews at Harvard and Yale.
Ac*crue"\, n. [F. accr[^u], OF. acre["u], p. p. of accroitre, OF. acroistre to increase; L. ad + crescere to increase. Cf. Accretion, Crew. See Crescent.] Something that accrues; advantage accruing. [Obs.]
Crew\ (kr?), n. [From older accrue accession, re?n?orcement, hence, company, crew; the first syllable being misunderstood as the indefinite article. See Accrue, Crescent.]1. A company of people associated together; an assemblage; a throng. There a noble crew Of lords and ladies stood on every side. --Spenser. Faithful to whom? to thy rebellious crew? --Milton. 2. The company of seamen who man a ship, vessel, or at; the company belonging to a vessel or a boat. Note: The word crew, in law, is ordinarily used as equivalent to ship's company, including master and other officers. When the master and other officers are excluded, the context always shows it. --Story. Burrill. 3. In an extended sense, any small body of men associated for a purpose; a gang; as (Naut.), the carpenter's crew; the boatswain's crew. Syn: Company; band; gang; horde; mob; herd; throng; party.
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