c.1369, probably from O.N. *krasa "shatter," perhaps via an O.Fr. form. Originally "to shatter;" now-obsolete metaphoric use for "break down in health" (1476) led to n. sense of "mental breakdown." Extension to "mania, fad," is first recorded 1813. Original sense preserved in crazy quilt pattern. Crazy is from 1576 as "sickly;" from 1617 as "insane;" and from 1927 in jazz slang for "cool, exciting." Phrase crazy like a fox recorded from 1935.
Main Entry: craze Pronunciation: 'krAz Function: verb Inflected Forms: crazed; craz·ing transitive senses : to make
insane or as if insane <crazed by pain and fear> crazeintransitive senses : to become insane
A*crase"\, Acraze \A*craze"\, v. t. [Pref. a- + crase; or cf. F. ['e]craser to crush. See Crase, Craze.]1. To craze. [Obs.] --Grafton. 2. To impair; to destroy. [Obs.] --Hacket.
Crash\ (kr?sh>), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crashed (kr?sht); p. pr. & vb. n. Crashing.] [OE. crashen, the same word as crasen to break, E. craze. See Craze.] To break in pieces violently; to dash together with noise and violence. [R.] He shakt his head, and crasht his teeth for ire. --Fairfax.
Craze\ (kr[=a]z), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Crazed (kr[=a]zd); p. pr. & vb. n. Crazing.] [OE. crasen to break, fr. Scand., perh. through OF.; cf. Sw. krasa to crackle, sl[*a] i kras, to break to pieces, F. ['e]craser to crush, fr. the Scand. Cf. Crash.]1. To break into pieces; to crush; to grind to powder. See Crase. God, looking forth, will trouble all his host, And craze their chariot wheels. --Milton. 2. To weaken; to impair; to render decrepit. [Obs.] Till length of years, And sedentary numbness, craze my limbs. --Milton. 3. To derange the intellect of; to render insane. Any man . . . that is crazed and out of his wits. --Tilloston. Grief hath crazed my wits. --Shak.
Craze\, v. i. 1. To be crazed, or to act or appear as one that is crazed; to rave; to become insane. She would weep and he would craze. --Keats. 2. To crack, as the glazing of porcelain or pottery.
Craze\, n. 1. Craziness; insanity. 2. A strong habitual desire or fancy; a crotchet. It was quite a craze with him [Burns] to have his Jean dressed genteelly. --Prof. Wilson. 3. A temporary passion or infatuation, as for same new amusement, pursuit, or fashion; as, the bric-a-brac craze; the [ae]sthetic craze. Various crazes concerning health and disease. --W. Pater.
Cra"zy\ (kr[=a]"z[y^]), a. [From Craze.]1. Characterized by weakness or feebleness; decrepit; broken; falling to decay; shaky; unsafe. Piles of mean andcrazy houses. --Macaulay. One of great riches, but a crazy constitution. --Addison. They . . . got a crazy boat to carry them to the island. --Jeffrey. 2. Broken, weakened, or dissordered in intellect; shattered; demented; deranged. Over moist and crazy brains. --Hudibras. 3. Inordinately desirous; foolishly eager. [Colloq.] The girls were crazy to be introduced to him. --R. B. Kimball. Crazy bone, the bony projection at the end of the elbow (olecranon), behind which passes the ulnar nerve; -- so called on account of the curiously painful tingling felt, when, in a particular position, it receives a blow; -- called also funny bone. Crazy quilt, a bedquilt made of pieces of silk or other material of various sizes, shapes, and colors, fancifully stitched together without definite plan or arrangement.
![[P]](http://cache.lexico.com/g/d/premium_mh.gif){kind=small}
Audio Help [kreyz] Pronunciation Key verb, crazed, craz·ing, noun 
