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Crown Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary

Britannica Dictionary definition of CROWN

1 

[count]

a 

:

a decorative object that is shaped like a circle and worn on the head of a king or queen for special ceremonies

◊ Crowns are usually made of gold or silver and decorated with jewels.

b 

:

a similar object worn by someone who is not an actual king or queen

  • The winner of the beauty pageant walked down the runway wearing her sparkling crown.

c 

:

a ring of leaves or flowers worn on the head of someone who has won a game, contest, or award

2 

the crown

or

the Crown

:

the government of a country that is officially ruled by a king or queen

  • the blessing of the Spanish crown

  • allegiance to the crown

  • She was appointed by the Crown.

3 

the crown

:

the position of power that a king or queen has

  • When the king died childless, his brother assumed the crown. [=his brother became king]

4 

[count]

:

something (such as a badge or decoration) in the shape of a king's or queen's crown

  • a jacket with a crown insignia on the pocket

5 

[count]

:

the title or position held by the person who has won a particular competition

:

championship

— usually singular

  • If he loses this match, he'll lose the heavyweight boxing crown. [=he will no longer be the champion]

6 

[count]

:

the part of a tooth that can be seen

  • an artificial crown made of porcelain

7 

[count]

:

the top of the head

— usually singular

  • She has a big bump on the crown [=top] of her head.

8 

[count]

:

the part of a hat that covers the top of the head

— usually singular

  • The hat has a rounded crown and a wide brim.

— see picture at hat

9 

[count]

:

the highest part of something (such as a tree or mountain)

  • From the tower, we could see the crowns of the trees below.

10 

[count]

a 

:

a unit of money used in several European countries

  • Norwegian crowns

b 

:

an old British coin worth five shillings

— crown

adjective,

always used before a noun

  • a crown appointee [=someone appointed by the government of a king or queen]

Britannica Dictionary definition of CROWN

[+ object]

1 

:

to put a crown on (a new king, queen, etc.)

:

to give (someone) the power and title of a king or queen

— usually used as (be) crowned

  • She was crowned queen at the age of 18.

2 

:

to officially or formally give (someone) the title or position of a champion, winner, etc.

  • The U.S. Open will crown a new champion Sunday. [=someone will be proclaimed champion at the U.S. Open championship]

  • The magazine crowned her the new queen of rock-and-roll music.

3 

:

to end (something) in a successful and impressive way

  • She crowned her long and distinguished career by designing the city's beautiful new bridge.

4 

literary

:

to be on top of (something)

:

to form the top of (something)

  • Snow crowns the mountain year-round.

— usually used as (be) crowned

  • The mountain is crowned with snow all year round.

  • a hill crowned with yellow daffodils

  • Her head is crowned by/with thick red hair.

5 

:

to put an artificial crown on (a tooth)

  • I broke a tooth and I'll have to have it crowned.

6 

informal

:

to hit (someone) on the head

  • He got crowned with a beer bottle.

— used to indicate the last and usually worst thing in a series of bad things that have happened

  • It rained, it snowed, and, to crown it all [=to top it off], our flight was canceled.