# crown

Pronunciation: say "KROWN" /kɹaʊn/

## Noun

1. A royal, imperial, or princely headdress worn as a symbol of sovereign authority.
   - Simple: A special headpiece worn by a king or queen as a sign of royal power.
   - _The king received a jeweled crown during his coronation._
   - _Ancient crowns are kept under guard in the royal treasury._
2. Any reward of victory or distinction serving as a mark of honor.
   - Simple: Any prize or honor given for winning or doing something great.
   - _After three straight wins, she will defend her singles crown at next month's tournament._
   - _The club lost its league crown to a team that had been promoted only a year earlier._
4. (usually the Crown) The monarchy as the state or government, including royal authority and the reigning monarch in an official role.
   - Simple: The king or queen and their government and power, seen as the state.
   - _The land belongs to the crown and cannot be sold privately._
   - _The crown prosecuted the case in the criminal court._
5. An artificial cap fitted over a damaged or decayed tooth to restore its shape and function.
   - Simple: A cap made by a dentist that covers and protects a damaged tooth.
   - _After the root canal, she needed a crown to protect the tooth._
   - _Modern crowns are often made of porcelain fused to metal._
7. The highest point of the head, at the very top of the skull.
   - Simple: The top part of a person's head.
   - _The barber trimmed the hair at the crown of his head._
   - _A bald patch was forming at the crown._
9. The highest point of achievement or splendor; the finest or culminating part of something.
   - Simple: The best or highest point of something, its finest part.
   - _The cathedral's soaring dome is the crown of the whole city._
   - _Reaching the summit was the crown of their long expedition._
10. A wreath or headband, typically one bestowed to reward a victory or to honor the wearer.
   - Simple: A ring of leaves or a band worn on the head as a prize for winning or a sign of honor.
   - _The victorious general was honored with a crown of laurel._
   - _Olympic champions of antiquity wore crowns woven from wild olive._
11. The knurled knob on the outside of a watch case, turned to wind the mechanism or adjust the hands.
   - Simple: The small knob on the side of a watch, used to wind it or set the time.
   - _He unscrewed the crown before resetting the date on his diving watch._
   - _A loose crown can let moisture into the watch movement._
15. The portion of a tooth that projects above the gum line.
   - Simple: The part of a tooth that you can see above the gums.
   - _Enamel forms a protective layer over the crown of the tooth._
   - _Decay had worn away much of the visible crown._
13. The upper branches and foliage of a tree, forming its leafy top.
   - Simple: The leafy top part of a tree, made of its branches and leaves.
   - _The crown of the maple turned bright red in the fall._
   - _Loggers measured the crown spread before felling the tree._
17. The highest part of a hill, at its very summit.
   - Simple: The highest part at the top of a hill.
   - _From the crown of the ridge they could see the whole valley._
   - _The road curves sharply just below the crown of the hill._
18. A unit of currency, originally issued by the crown and often bearing a crown, used as the English name for currencies such as the Czech koruna or Norwegian krone.
   - Simple: A unit of money used in some countries, first made by a king or queen.
   - _The hotel quoted its room rates in crowns rather than euros._
   - _He had a single crown left after paying for the train._
19. A former British coin worth five shillings, in use before the currency was decimalized.
   - Simple: An old British coin that was worth five shillings.
   - _The collector paid several pounds for a well-preserved Victorian crown._
   - _My grandfather kept an old silver crown from before Britain changed to decimal money._
20. The top section of a hat, the part that sits above the brim and covers the head.
   - Simple: The top part of a hat, above the brim.
   - _The hatmaker steamed the crown until it held its rounded shape._
   - _A tall crown gave the stovepipe hat its distinctive look._
21. The part of a plant where the root system and the stem join, at or near soil level.
   - Simple: The low point on a plant where its stem joins the roots, near the soil.
   - _Gardeners should keep the crown of the strawberry plant above the mulch._
   - _Dividing the perennial means cutting through the crown into several sections._
22. The topmost part of some fruits, such as a pineapple or strawberry, which is cut away before the fruit is eaten.
   - Simple: The leafy top part of some fruits, like a pineapple, that you cut off before eating.
   - _She saved the pineapple's crown to try growing a new plant._
   - _She twisted the leafy crown off the pineapple and planted it in a pot of soil._
23. The raised central portion of a road's surface, higher than its sides.
   - Simple: The raised middle of a road, higher than the edges.
   - _The cyclist kept to the crown of the road to avoid the puddles at the edges._
   - _Years of heavy trucks had flattened the crown of the highway._
24. The highest point of an arch, where the curve reaches its peak.
   - Simple: The highest part of an arch, at the very top of the curve.
   - _The keystone sits at the crown of the arch, locking the structure in place._
   - _Water damage was worst near the crown of the bridge's central arch._
26. A whole bird prepared with the legs and wings removed, leaving a joint of white breast meat.
   - Simple: A whole bird with the legs and wings cut off, leaving white meat.
   - _The butcher prepared a turkey crown for customers wanting only breast meat._
   - _A crown is far easier to carve than a full bird._

## Verb

3. To declare someone the winner or champion of a competition.
   - Simple: To name someone as the winner of a contest.
   - _Voters helped crown the underdog as this year's champion._
   - _The league crowned a new title-holder last weekend._
6. To make someone king, queen, or emperor, especially by placing a crown on their head in a formal ceremony.
   - Simple: To make someone a king or queen by putting a crown on their head.
   - _The electors agreed to crown him as their new king._
   - _She was crowned empress in a lavish ceremony._
8. To form the topmost or finishing part of something, completing or perfecting it.
   - Simple: To be on top of something, or to be the last part that makes it complete.
   - _Stone battlements crown the old castle wall._
   - _An elegant spire crowns the new cathedral._
12. To bestow honor, dignity, or reward upon someone or something; to adorn or to dignify.
   - Simple: To give honor or beauty to someone or something.
   - _Critics rarely crown a debut novel with such generous praise._
   - _The general's long career was crowned with honors from three countries._
16. Of a baby during birth, to have the top of the head appear at the opening of the vagina.
   - Simple: When the top of a baby's head first appears at the opening during birth.
   - _The doctor announced that the baby had begun to crown._
   - _She felt intense pressure as the head started to crown._
25. Of a forest fire or bushfire, to spread into the crowns of the trees and move from treetop to treetop, independent of the fire on the ground.
   - Simple: Of a fire, to spread up into the tops of trees and jump from tree to tree.
   - _When the blaze reached the dense pines, it began to crown._
   - _Forests with continuous canopies allow fires to crown and spread rapidly._
27. To strike someone on the head, especially with a sharp or sudden blow.
   - Simple: To hit someone on the top of the head.
   - _The falling branch nearly crowned him as he walked under the tree._
   - _Annoyed, she threatened to crown the next person who interrupted._
14. In checkers, to mark a piece that has become a king by stacking a second checker on top of it.
   - Simple: In checkers, to put a second checker on top of a piece to show it is now a king.
   - _He jumped two of my pieces, landed in my back row, and asked me to crown him._
   - _Once two of her checkers had been crowned, the game turned against me._

## Other meanings

- (noun) During childbirth, the appearance of the top of the baby's head at the opening of the mother's vagina.
- (noun) The police, so called from the Ford Crown Victoria cars long used as patrol vehicles.
- (noun) A circular bald patch shaved at the crest of the skull as a sign that a man is a cleric.
- (noun) On a rose-cut gem, the ring of small flat faces cut along its upper part.
- (noun) The arched, rounded roof over the inside of a furnace.
- (noun) A spire or lantern made from several flying buttresses that lean in and meet at the top.
- (noun) A five-shilling coin or banknote once issued in Commonwealth countries outside Britain, among them Ireland and Jamaica.
- (noun) A knot made at a rope's end by weaving its strands back into one another so the rope does not come apart.
- (noun) The point at which an anchor's arms branch out from its long central shaft.
- (noun) The upward curve of a ship's deck, measured as its rise above a flat line.
- (noun) Paper cut to 20 by 15 inches, a traditional size for printing.
- (noun) Paper cut to 19 by 15 inches, a traditional size for writing on.
- (noun) A ring-shaped molecule with three or more points that can bond, able to hold another atom or molecule at its center.
- (noun) A rounded, smoothed edge cut at the muzzle of a gun barrel.
- (noun) The region lying between two outlines that share the same center.
- (noun) A dressy hat that women put on for Sunday worship.
- (adjective) Belonging or relating to a crown.
- (adjective) Relating to the leafy upper parts of trees.
- (verb) To shape something so it bulges upward, standing higher in its center than along its sides, as with a pulley face.
- (verb) In a first-person shooting game, to kill an opponent with a shotgun blast to the back of the skull.
- (verb) To enlarge the mouth of a gun's bore.
- (verb) To take and hold a position on top of an enemy work, such as the crest of a glacis or the top of a breach.
- (verb) To weave the loose strand ends of a knot across and beneath one another.
- (verb) To be just about to have a bowel movement.
- (verb) An old past participle of crow, now replaced by crowed.

## Origin

From Middle English coroune, via Anglo-Norman corone, from Latin corōna ('crown, wreath'), which itself came from Ancient Greek korṓnē. It is a doublet of corona and krone, and it replaced the Old English words corenbēag and cynehelm.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/crown (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).