Bitter cress. See under Bitter.Not worth a cress, or "not worth a kers." a common old proverb, now turned into the meaningless "not worth a curse." Skeat.

Cresselle
(Cres*selle") n. [F. crécelle rattle.] (Eccl.) A wooden rattle sometimes used as a substitute for a bell, in the Roman Catholic church, during the latter part of Holy Week, or the last week of Lent.

Cresset
(Cres"set) n. [OF. crasset, cresset, sort of lamp or torch; perh. of Dutch or German origin, and akin to E. cruse, F. creuset crucible, E. crucible.]

1. An open frame or basket of iron, filled with combustible material, to be burned as a beacon; an open lamp or firrepan carried on a pole in nocturnal processions.

Starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed
With naphtha and asphaltus.
Milton.

As a cresset true that darts its length
Of beamy luster from a tower of strength.
Wordsworth.

2. (Coopering) A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves flexible. Knight.

Cressy
(Cress"y) a. Abounding in cresses.

The cressy islets white in flower.
Tennyson.

Crest
(Crest) n. [OF. creste, F. crête, L. crista.]

1. A tuft, or other excrescence or natural ornament, growing on an animal's head; the comb of a cock; the swelling on the head of a serpent; the lengthened feathers of the crown or nape of bird, etc. Darwin.

[Attack] his rising crest, and drive the serpent back.
C. Pitt.

Crescentwise to Cribbage

Crescentwise
(Cres"cent*wise`) adv. In the form of a crescent; like a crescent. Tennyson.

Crescive
(Cres"cive) a. [L. crescere to increase.] Increasing; growing. [R.]

Unseen, yet crescive in his faculty.
Shak.

Cresol
(Cre"sol) n. [From Creosote.] (Chem.) Any one of three metameric substances, CH3.C6H4.OH, homologous with and resembling phenol. They are obtained from coal tar and wood tar, and are colorless, oily liquids or solids. [Called also cresylic acid.]

Cresorcin
(Cre*sor"cin) n. (Chem.) Same as Isorcin.

Cress
(Cress) n.; pl. Cresses [OE. ces, cresse, kers, kerse, AS. cresse, cerse; akin to D. kers, G. kresse, Dan. karse, Sw. krasse, and possibly also to OHG. chresan to creep.] (Bot.) A plant of various species, chiefly cruciferous. The leaves have a moderately pungent taste, and are used as a salad and antiscorbutic.

The garden cress, called also peppergrass, is the Lepidium sativum; the water cress is the Nasturtium officinale. Various other plants are sometimes called cresses.

To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread.
Goldsmith.


  By PanEris using Melati.

Previous chapter Back Home Email this Search Discuss Bookmark Next chapter/page
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details.