What does crowsfoot mean?
A crowsfoot is literally the footprint of a crow — a mark of three diverging lines — and English borrows that image for anything spreading in a similar shape. Its best-known use describes the fine wrinkles that fan out from the outer corners of the eyes, affectionately dubbed 'laughter lines' because they come from years of smiling and squinting. The word also names several plants, chiefly the buttercups of the genus Ranunculus, whose lobed leaves suggested the same bird-track shape, along with an embroidery stitch worked as a small three-pronged star and a three-pronged gripping tool used by mechanics. Most people write it as 'crow's foot', though the unbroken form 'crowsfoot' appears regularly in technical contexts. Warmly connoted in its wrinkle sense and purely descriptive elsewhere, the word shows how everyday observation of nature quietly supplies English with vivid, durable metaphors.
A wrinkle radiating outward from the outer corner of the eye.
"She traced the crowsfeet at the corner of her eye in the mirror."
Usually pluralized in this sense; often softened as 'laughter lines'.
Any of various plants with leaves or flowers shaped like a crow's foot, especially buttercups of the genus Ranunculus.
"Yellow crowsfoot dotted the damp edge of the field."
In botany this sense is more commonly given as 'crowfoot'.
An embroidery stitch forming a three-pronged figure resembling a bird's track, used especially for mending tears.
"She closed the tear with a neat crowsfoot stitch."
Also written 'crow's-foot stitch'.
A three-pronged gripping tool used to hold or turn objects.
"He fitted the crowsfoot onto the stubborn bolt."
Chiefly in trades and mechanical contexts; also called a crow's-foot wrench.
The plural follows 'crow's feet', with 'feet' rather than 'foots'; the wrinkle sense is almost always plural.
"The actor's crowsfeet deepened as he grinned at the audience."
Dermatologists call them wrinkles, poets call them laughter lines — either way, every smile you've ever smiled leaves its mark there.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of crowsfoot
The word combines 'crow' — from Old English crāwa, related to Old Norse kráka and ultimately a Germanic bird name — with 'foot'. It arose in Middle English as a straightforward descriptive compound, applied first to things shaped like a crow's track. Related Germanic forms include Scots 'corbie' (raven) and dialect words such as 'crake' and 'craw' that descend from the same bird-name stock.
How crowsfoot is actually used
The word is most often spelled with an apostrophe as 'crow's foot' (plural 'crow's feet'); 'crowsfoot' is a solid, apostrophe-free variant common in technical and botanical writing. The wrinkle sense carries warm connotations, often associated with aging gracefully and frequent smiling.
Easily confused with crowsfoot
Crowfoot refers specifically to plants of the buttercup genus Ranunculus, whereas crowsfoot more broadly covers the eye-wrinkle sense and other 'crow's-foot'-shaped things.
A crowbar is a long iron lever for prying, unrelated in form to the three-pronged implement called a crowsfoot.