"crutch word" meaning in English

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "crutch",
        "3": "word"
      },
      "expansion": "crutch + word",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From crutch + word.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "crutch words",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "crutch word (plural crutch words)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2012 Jen Doll, \"\"A Literal Epidemic of Crutch Words,\" The Atlantic, 13 September 2012.\nOf course, we didn't list all the crutch words, because it appears we're living in a crutch word epidemic."
        },
        {
          "text": "2016 O'Brian Gunn, \"\"Crutch Words that Hobble Your Writing,\" BKA Content, 29 December 2016.\nA crutch word is essentially a placeholder, something we say or sometimes even write when we can’t think of the right word to accurately describe what we want to convey."
        },
        {
          "text": "n.d. \"\"Words That Can Ruin Your Sentence: Actually,\" Dictionary.com: Everything After Z, 13 September 2012.\nActually is the perfect example of a crutch word. It is meant to signify something that exists in reality, but it is more often used as a way to add punch to a statement (as in, \"I actually have no idea\")."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A word that becomes a filler in conversation, or is used for verbal emphasis, without adding any meaning to an utterance."
      ],
      "id": "en-crutch_word-en-noun-HquJx95D",
      "links": [
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "filler",
          "filler"
        ],
        [
          "conversation",
          "conversation"
        ],
        [
          "verbal",
          "verbal"
        ],
        [
          "emphasis",
          "emphasis"
        ],
        [
          "meaning",
          "meaning"
        ],
        [
          "utterance",
          "utterance"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "crutch-word"
        },
        {
          "word": "crutchword"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "crutch word"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "crutch",
        "3": "word"
      },
      "expansion": "crutch + word",
      "name": "com"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From crutch + word.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "crutch words",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "crutch word (plural crutch words)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English compound terms",
        "English countable nouns",
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English nouns",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "2012 Jen Doll, \"\"A Literal Epidemic of Crutch Words,\" The Atlantic, 13 September 2012.\nOf course, we didn't list all the crutch words, because it appears we're living in a crutch word epidemic."
        },
        {
          "text": "2016 O'Brian Gunn, \"\"Crutch Words that Hobble Your Writing,\" BKA Content, 29 December 2016.\nA crutch word is essentially a placeholder, something we say or sometimes even write when we can’t think of the right word to accurately describe what we want to convey."
        },
        {
          "text": "n.d. \"\"Words That Can Ruin Your Sentence: Actually,\" Dictionary.com: Everything After Z, 13 September 2012.\nActually is the perfect example of a crutch word. It is meant to signify something that exists in reality, but it is more often used as a way to add punch to a statement (as in, \"I actually have no idea\")."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A word that becomes a filler in conversation, or is used for verbal emphasis, without adding any meaning to an utterance."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "word",
          "word"
        ],
        [
          "filler",
          "filler"
        ],
        [
          "conversation",
          "conversation"
        ],
        [
          "verbal",
          "verbal"
        ],
        [
          "emphasis",
          "emphasis"
        ],
        [
          "meaning",
          "meaning"
        ],
        [
          "utterance",
          "utterance"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "crutch-word"
    },
    {
      "word": "crutchword"
    }
  ],
  "word": "crutch word"
}