Yard, n.
 1. An inclosure; usually, a small inclosed place in front of, or around, a house or barn; as, a courtyard; a cowyard; a barnyard.
 A yard . . . inclosed all about with sticks
 In which she had a cock, hight chanticleer.   --Chaucer.
 2. An inclosure within which any work or business is carried on; as, a dockyard; a shipyard.
 Liberty of the yard, a liberty, granted to persons imprisoned for debt, of walking in the yard, or within any other limits prescribed by law, on their giving bond not to go beyond those limits.
 Prison yard, an inclosure about a prison, or attached to it.
 Yard grass Bot., a low-growing grass (Eleusine Indica) having digitate spikes. It is common in dooryards, and like places, especially in the Southern United States. Called also crab grass.
 Yard of land. See Yardland.


 Crab n.
 1. Zool. One of the brachyuran Crustacea. They are mostly marine, and usually have a broad, short body, covered with a strong shell or carapace. The abdomen is small and curled up beneath the body.
 Note: ☞ The name is applied to all the Brachyura, and to certain Anomura, as the hermit crabs.  Formerly, it was sometimes applied to Crustacea in general. Many species are edible, the blue crab of the Atlantic coast being one of the most esteemed. The large European edible crab is Cancer padurus. Soft-shelled crabs are blue crabs that have recently cast their shells. See Cancer; also, Box crab, Fiddler crab, Hermit crab, Spider crab, etc., under Box, Fiddler. etc.
 2. The zodiacal constellation Cancer.
 3.  Bot. A crab apple; -- so named from its harsh taste.
 When roasted crabs hiss in the bowl,
 Then nightly sings the staring owl.   --Shak.
 4. A cudgel made of the wood of the crab tree; a crabstick. [Obs.]
 5. Mech. (a) A movable winch or windlass with powerful gearing, used with derricks, etc. (b) A form of windlass, or geared capstan, for hauling ships into dock, etc. (c) A machine used in ropewalks to stretch the yarn. (d) A claw for anchoring a portable machine.
 Calling crab. Zool. See Fiddler., n., 2.
 Crab apple, a small, sour apple, of several kinds; also, the tree which bears it; as, the European crab apple (Pyrus Malus var. sylvestris); the Siberian crab apple (Pyrus baccata); and the American (Pyrus coronaria).
 Crab grass. Bot. (a) A grass (Digitaria sanguinalis syn. Panicum sanguinalis); -- called also finger grass. (b) A grass of the genus Eleusine (Eleusine Indica); -- called also dog's-tail grass, wire grass, etc.
 Crab louse Zool., a species of louse (Phthirius pubis), sometimes infesting the human body.
 Crab plover Zool., an Asiatic plover (Dromas ardeola).
 Crab's eyes, or Crab's stones, masses of calcareous matter found, at certain seasons of the year, on either side of the stomach of the European crawfishes, and formerly used in medicine for absorbent and antacid purposes; the gastroliths.
 Crab spider Zool., one of a group of spiders (Laterigradæ); -- called because they can run backwards or sideways like a crab.
 Crab tree, the tree that bears crab applies.
 Crab wood, a light cabinet wood obtained in Guiana, which takes a high polish. --McElrath.
 To catch a crab Naut., a phrase used of a rower: (a) when he fails to raise his oar clear of the water; (b) when he misses the water altogether in making a stroke.


 Fin·ger n.
 1. One of the five terminating members of the hand; a digit; esp., one of the four extremities of the hand, other than the thumb.
 2. Anything that does the work of a finger; as, the pointer of a clock, watch, or other registering machine; especially Mech. a small projecting rod, wire, or piece, which is brought into contact with an object to effect, direct, or restrain a motion.
 3. The breadth of a finger, or the fourth part of the hand; a measure of nearly an inch; also, the length of finger, a measure in domestic use in the United States, of about four and a half inches or one eighth of a yard.
    A piece of steel three fingers thick.   --Bp. Wilkins.
 4. Skill in the use of the fingers, as in playing upon a musical instrument. [R.]
    She has a good finger.   --Busby.
 Ear finger, the little finger.
 Finger alphabet. See Dactylology.
 Finger bar, the horizontal bar, carrying slotted spikes, or fingers, through which the vibratory knives of mowing and reaping machines play.
 Finger board Mus., the part of a stringed instrument against which the fingers press the strings to vary the tone; the keyboard of a piano, organ, etc.; manual.
 Finger bowl Finger glass, a bowl or glass to hold water for rinsing the fingers at table.
 Finger flower Bot., the foxglove.
 Finger grass Bot., a kind of grass (Panicum sanguinale) with slender radiating spikes; common crab grass. See Crab grass, under Crab.
 Finger nut, a fly nut or thumb nut.
 Finger plate, a strip of metal, glass, etc., to protect a painted or polished door from finger marks.
 Finger post, a guide post bearing an index finger.
 Finger reading, reading printed in relief so as to be sensible to the touch; -- so made for the blind.
 Finger shell Zool., a marine shell (Pholas dactylus) resembling a finger in form.
 Finger sponge Zool., a sponge having finger-shaped lobes, or branches.
 Finger stall, a cover or shield for a finger.
 Finger steel, a steel instrument for whetting a currier's knife.
 To burn one's fingers. See under Burn.
 To have a finger in, to be concerned in. [Colloq.]
 To have at one's fingers' ends, to be thoroughly familiar with. [Colloq.]


 crab grass
      n : grasses with creeping stems that root freely; a pest in
          lawns [syn: crabgrass, finger grass]