n. any of various herbs of the genus Cardamine, having usually pinnate leaves and racemes of white, pink or purple flowers; cosmopolitan except in the Antarctic.
n.;
☞ The garden cress, called also
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]
Bitter cress.
Not worth a cress,
“not worth a kers.”
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. [ 1913 Webster ]
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. ]
Starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed
With naphtha and asphaltus. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]
As a cresset true that darts its length
Of beamy luster from a tower of strength. Wordsworth. [ 1913 Webster ]
a. Abounding in cresses. [ 1913 Webster ]
The cressy islets white in flower. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]
n. (Bot.) Nipplewort. [ 1913 Webster ]
. An annual asteraceous herb (Spilances oleracea) grown in tropical countries as a pungent salad, and also used medicinally. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]
n. Any of several plants of the genus Thlaspi; see
(Bot.) A perennial cruciferous herb (Nasturtium officinale) growing usually in clear running or spring water. The leaves are pungent, and used for salad and as an antiscorbutic. [ 1913 Webster ]