cruet

[ kroo-it ]
See synonyms for cruet on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a glass bottle, especially one for holding vinegar, oil, etc., for the table.

Origin of cruet

1
1250–1300; Middle English <Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French cru(i)e pitcher (<Frankish *krūka; compare Old English crūce pot) + -et-et

Words Nearby cruet

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use cruet in a sentence

  • He was shedding tears copiously, and wiping them on a cruet-stand he carried in one hand.

    Somehow Good | William de Morgan
  • There were little domesticities of intimate life about him, an empty soup-dish, a cruet-stand, a plate and a spoon.

    The Eternal City | Hall Caine
  • Hang the pepper-box to his nose, nurse, then he will be a cruet.

  • This simple yet ingenious contrivance is far prettier than our somewhat vulgar cruet-stand.

    Household Organization | Florence Caddy
  • A short time before he had calmly looked me in the face across the table, and pledged me in the vinegar-cruet, which he emptied.

    My Experiences in a Lunatic Asylum | Herman Charles Merivale

British Dictionary definitions for cruet

cruet

/ (ˈkruːɪt) /


noun
  1. a small container for holding pepper, salt, vinegar, oil, etc, at table

  2. a set of such containers, esp on a stand

  1. Christianity either of a pair of small containers for the wine and water used in the Eucharist

  2. Australian a slang word for head (def. 1)

  3. do one's cruet Australian slang to be extremely angry; go into a rage

pl n
  1. Australian slang the testicles

Origin of cruet

1
C13: from Anglo-French, diminutive of Old French crue flask, of Germanic origin; compare Old Saxon krūka, Old English crūce pot

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012