cress

[kres]

noun

any of various plants of the mustard family, especially the watercress, having pungent-tasting leaves often used for salad and as a garnish.
any of various similar plants.

Origin of cress

before 900; Middle English cresse, Old English cress(a), cresse; cognate with Dutch kers, German Kresse

Related formscress·y, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for cress

Historical Examples of cress

Cress, Romaine, or bleached chicory may be used in place of lettuce.
Sandwiches
Sarah Tyson Heston Rorer
Cress, thou wilt not do anything to Sir Richard of Gloucester?
Earl Hubert's Daughter
Emily Sarah Holt
Serve on platter with meat, garnished with cress or parsley.
Armour's Monthly Cook Book, Volume 2, No. 12, October 1913
Various
No cress could she find, so she thought she would turn back and go home.
The Book of One Syllable
Esther Bakewell
When this is not procurable, cress makes an attractive border to a salad.
Foods and Household Management
Helen Kinne

British Dictionary definitions for cress

cress

noun

any of various plants of the genera Lepidium, Cardamine, Arabis, etc, having pungent-tasting leaves often used in salads and as a garnish: family Brassicaceae (crucifers)See also watercress, garden cress

Word Origin for cress

Old English cressa; related to Old High German cresso cress, kresan to crawl

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

Word Origin and History for cress

Old English cresse, originally cærse, from Proto-Germanic *krasjon- (cf. Middle Low German kerse, karse; Middle Dutch kersse; Old High German kresso, German Kresse), from PIE root *gras- "to devour" (see gastric). It underwent a metathesis similar to that of grass. French cresson, Italian crescione are Germanic loan-words.