Crips

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Members of a Los Angeles street gang originally founded in the 1960s ; a derogatory slang term for a person with a physical disability
2. A name for those who belong to a Los Angeles street gang ; an offensive slur used to refer to a disabled person
3. Gang members associated with a Los Angeles street gang network ; a demeaning slang label applied to people who have disabilities

Etymology: "Crips" is the plural of "crip", a clipping of "cripple". The shortened form traces back to the older word, which goes back to Old English "crypel", a creeping thing, related to "creep". The sense of a lame or disabled person developed from that root, so the shortening simply keeps the core of the longer noun while trimming its final syllable. Clippings like this are common in informal English, where speakers drop the ending of a longer word to make it quicker to say. The clipped form "crip" tends to be used informally, and its plural "crips" is simply that same clipped noun in the plural.