cringing, adj. 1. cowering, shrinking, quailing, blenching, flinching, wincing, starting, recoiling, shying, Inf. funking, SI. mooching; shaking, trembling, quivering, Inf. shaking in one's boots or shoes.
2. servile, slavish, obsequious, Obs. obsequent, subservient, menial, Obs., Rare, vernile; submissive, docile, unassertive, compliant, acquiescent, deferential, tractable, mealy-mouthed, Tomish, Uncle Tom-ish; prostrate, obeisant, on one's knees, lying prone, lying low, prostrating oneself, throwing oneself at the feet of; kneeling, on one's knees, falling on one's knees; kowtowing, bowing, bowing before, bowing and scraping, bending, bending before, stooping, squatting, crouching, slouching, hunching; groveling, crawling, creeping, slithering, sneaking, worming.
3. sycophantic, sycophantical, sycophantish, toady-ish, toadying, flattering, fawning, truckling, wheedling, slavering, puffing, puffing-up; courting, paying court to, currying favor, timeserving, keeping time to, dancing attendance upon, being at one's beck and call, SI. bootlicking, SI. footlicking, Inf. apple-polishing, SI. brown-nosing, Obs. blanding, Obs., Rare, blan-diloquous, Rare, blandiloquent.

crinkle, v. 1. turn, bend, crankle, buckle; wind, coil, twist.
2. wrinkle, crimple, cockle, crumple, knit, shrivel, pucker, gather, smock, tuck; crimp, flute, ruffle, scallop; corrugate, furrow, groove, ridge, striate; ripple, wave, curl, friz, frizzle.
3. rustle, swish, whoosh, whish; murmur, whisper, sibilate, hiss.

crinkly, adj. 1. wrinkly, crimpled, cockled, buckled, creped, shriveled; gathered, smocked, puckered, knit; corrugate, corrugated, furrowed, grooved, ridged; fluted, crimpy, ruffled, scalloped; wavy, curly, ripply, frizzy, kinky.
2. curvy, winding, twisty, sinuous, serpentine, anfractuous.
3. rustling, swishing, swooshing, whooshing; murmuring, whispering, sibilant, hissing.

cripple, n. 1. lame person, paralytic, amputee; invalid, convalescent, valetudinarian. -v. 2. lame, becripple, hamstring, hock, amputate; disable, incapacitate, debilitate; maim, mangle, mutilate, scar; hurt, abuse, injure, maltreat, misuse, do violence to; impair, damage, mar, vitiate, spoil; weaken, enfeeble, enervate, prostrate, paralyze.

crisis, n. 1. turning point, point of no return, Rubicon, conjuncture, juncture, pass; climax, climacteric, moment of truth, Inf. zero hour.
2. emergency, exigency, extremity; disaster, calamity, catastrophe; deadlock, standstill, impasse; strait, pinch, Inf. crunch, Inf. clutch, rub, push; trouble, difficulty, fix, hot water; predicament, plight, dilemma, quandary, Inf. pickle, scrape; entanglement, mess, muddle, kettle of fish, stew, imbroglio.

crisp, adj. 1. brittle, crumbly, friable, breakable, frangible.
2. fresh, green, unwilted, unwithered, firm, flavorous.
3. sharp, tart, blunt, abrupt, straightforward, candid; decided, resolved, unhesitating, unwavering; pithy, concise, succinct, terse.
4. lively, animated, spirited, vivacious, enthusiastic, Inf. sparkling, eager; sprightly, vigorous, invigorated, energetic.
5. clean, neat, spruce, trim, trig, well-groomed, well-pressed, Inf snappy, smart.