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. [ 1913 Webster ]

☞ The garden cress, called also peppergrass, is the Lepidium sativum; the water cress is the Nasturtium officinale. Various other plants are sometimes called cresses. [ 1913 Webster ]

To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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 ]

2. (Coopering) A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves flexible. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Abounding in cresses. [ 1913 Webster ]

The cressy islets white in flower. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]