n.

a wooden or metal staff that fits under the armpit and reaches to the ground; used by disabled person while walking

anything that serves as an expedient

"he uses drugs as a psychological crutch"

Oral splints: the crutches for temporomandibular disorders and bruxism?
Canes, crutches and walkers.
Covers for crutches
Upper limb loadings of gait with crutches.
The dynamics of walking using the hip guidance orthosis (hgo) with crutches.
Energy cost of ambulation with crutches.
Crutches and crutch management
Energy cost, mechanical work and muscular efficiency in swing-through gait with elbow crutches
Bilateral brachial plexus compressive neuropathy (crutch palsy).
Slipped capital femoral epiphysis: current concepts