n. [ AS. croft; akin to D. kroft hillock; cf. Gael. croit hump, croft. ] A small, inclosed field, adjoining a house; a small farm. [ 1913 Webster ]

A few small crofts of stone-encumbered ground. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who rents and tills a small farm or holding; as, the crofters of Scotland. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Croftland. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Textile Manuf.) Exposing linen to the sun, on the grass, in the process of bleaching. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Land of superior quality, on which successive crops are raised. [ Scot. ] Jamieson. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ After Sir Walter Crofton, Irish penologist. ] (Penology) A system of prison discipline employing for consecutive periods cellular confinement, associated imprisonment under the mark system, restraint intermediate between imprisonment and freedom, and liberation on ticket of leave. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]