From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.44 [gcide]:
crone \crone\ (kr[=o]n), noun [OD. kronie, karonie, an old sheep, OF. carogne, F. charogne, carrion (also F. carogne ill-natured woman.). See {Carrion}, and {Crony}.]
1. An old ewe. [Obs.] --Tusser.
2. An old woman; -- usually in contempt.
But still the crone was constant to her note. --Dryden.
3. An old man; especially, a man who talks and acts like an old woman. [R.]
The old crone [a negro man] lived in a hovel, . . . which his master had given him. --W. Irving.
A few old battered crones of office. --Beaconsfield.
From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:
noun
1: an ugly evil-looking old woman [syn: {hag}, {beldam}, {beldame}, {witch}]
From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:
25 Moby Thesaurus words for "crone": bag, bat, beldam, biddy, dame, dowager, drab, frump, grandam, grandmother, granny, hag, old battle-ax, old dame, old girl, old granny, old lady, old trot, old wife, old woman, slattern, sloven, trot, war-horse, witch
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