CREASE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crease mean? 

• CREASE (noun)
  The noun CREASE has 3 senses:

1. an angular or rounded shape made by folding

2. a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface

3. a Malayan dagger with a wavy blade

  Familiarity information: CREASE used as a noun is uncommon.

• CREASE (verb)
  The verb CREASE has 4 senses:

1. make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in; 'crisp' is archaic

2. make wrinkled or creased

3. scrape gently

4. become wrinkled or crumpled or creased

  Familiarity information: CREASE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CREASE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An angular or rounded shape made by folding

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

bend; crease; crimp; flexure; fold; plication

Context example:

a bend of his elbow

Hypernyms ("crease" is a kind of...):

angular shape; angularity (a shape having one or more sharp angles)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crease"):

plait; pleat (any of various types of fold formed by doubling fabric back upon itself and then pressing or stitching into shape)

kink; twirl; twist (a sharp bend in a line produced when a line having a loop is pulled tight)

pucker; ruck (an irregular fold in an otherwise even surface (as in cloth))

Sense 2

Meaning:

A slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface

Classified under:

Nouns denoting two and three dimensional shapes

Synonyms:

crease; crinkle; furrow; line; seam; wrinkle

Context example:

ironing gets rid of most wrinkles

Hypernyms ("crease" is a kind of...):

depression; impression; imprint (a concavity in a surface produced by pressing)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crease"):

crow's feet; crow's foot; laugh line (a wrinkle in the skin at the outer corner of your eyes)

dermatoglyphic (the lines that form patterns on the skin (especially on the fingertips and the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet))

frown line (a facial wrinkle associated with frowning)

life line; lifeline; line of life (a crease on the palm; its length is said by palmists to indicate how long you will live)

heart line; line of heart; love line; mensal line (a crease on the palm; palmists say it indicates your emotional nature)

line of destiny; line of fate; line of Saturn (a crease on the palm; palmists say it indicates how successful you will be)

Holonyms ("crease" is a part of...):

cutis; skin; tegument (a natural protective body covering and site of the sense of touch)

Derivation:

crease (become wrinkled or crumpled or creased)

crease (make wrinkled or creased)

crease (make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in; 'crisp' is archaic)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A Malayan dagger with a wavy blade

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

crease; creese; kris

Hypernyms ("crease" is a kind of...):

dagger; sticker (a short knife with a pointed blade used for piercing or stabbing)

• CREASE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crease    ... he / she / it creases   
Past simple: creased   
Past participle: creased   
-ing form: creasing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in; 'crisp' is archaic

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crease; crinkle; crisp; ruckle; scrunch; scrunch up; wrinkle

Context example:

crease the paper like this to make a crane

Hypernyms (to "crease" is one way to...):

fold; fold up; turn up (bend or lay so that one part covers the other)

Domain usage:

archaicism; archaism (the use of an archaic expression)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crease"):

cockle; crumple; knit; pucker; rumple (to gather something into small wrinkles or folds)

pucker; ruck; ruck up (become wrinkled or drawn together)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They crease the sheets

Derivation:

crease (a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make wrinkled or creased

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crease; furrow; wrinkle

Context example:

furrow one's brow

Hypernyms (to "crease" is one way to...):

fold; fold up; turn up (bend or lay so that one part covers the other)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

crease (a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Scrape gently

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

crease; graze; rake

Context example:

graze the skin

Hypernyms (to "crease" is one way to...):

brush (touch lightly and briefly)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crease"):

shave (touch the surface of lightly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become wrinkled or crumpled or creased

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crease; crinkle; crumple; rumple; wrinkle

Context example:

This fabric won't wrinkle

Hypernyms (to "crease" is one way to...):

fold; fold up (become folded or folded up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The sheets didn't crease
These fabrics crease easily

Derivation:

crease (a slight depression or fold in the smoothness of a surface)

 Context examples 

Instead, they are flat, with a crease down the middle and are held erect in two opposite ranks.

(Allium sativum, NCI Thesaurus)

When examining the infant's palm for abnormalities, the examiner may note a single transverse palmar crease, which is found in 5% of newborns and is frequently inherited as a familial trait.

(Palmar Crease Examination, NCI Thesaurus)

She met him at the door herself, and her woman's eyes took in immediately the creased trousers and the certain slight but indefinable change in him for the better.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

It leads to a variety of abnormalities that include mental retardation, macroglossia, microgenia, epicanthic eyelids, and a single transverse palmar crease.

(Complete Trisomy 21 Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

The ears are v-shaped and crease above the skull to fall toward the outside corner of the eye.

(Kerry Blue Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

The creases or folds in the gastric mucosa that increase the stomach surface area and allow for an increase in volume without an increase in pressure.

(Gastric Rugae, NCI Thesaurus)

A crease in the skin on the flexor side of a joint.

(Flexural Skin, NCI Thesaurus)

A fingertip length is defined from the tip of the index finger to the first finger crease.

(Fingertip Dosing Unit, NCI Thesaurus)

In an instant I had caught him round the waist, and held him up while Holmes and Pycroft untied the elastic bands which had disappeared between the livid creases of skin.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I warrant you that I find a crease in his coat to-morrow.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)