cense

[ sens ]

verb (used with object),censed, censing.

to burn incense near or in front of; perfume with incense.

Origin of cense

1300–50; Middle English, aphetic variant of incense¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use cense in a sentence

I was put in a conspicuous place, had a special censing all to myself, and felt much embarrassed.
Through the Land of the Serb | Mary Edith Durham
The recumbent effigy has figures of censing angels at its head.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Salisbury | Gleeson White
After the censing my father placed a lighted candle on the table; to-day pine-splinters might only be burned in the kitchen.
The Forest Farm | Peter Rosegger
The Holy Child is in the act of blessing the world, and on either side are two archangels, censing.
The Story of Chartres | Cecil Headlam
Round the head of the archbishop is a gable cusped with censing angels on each side of it.
The Cathedral Church of York | A. Clutton-Brock

British Dictionary definitions for cense

cense

/ (sɛns) /

verb

(tr) to burn incense near or before (an altar, shrine, etc)

Origin of cense

C14: from Old French encenser; see incense 1

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

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