cresset

American  

[kres-it] / ˈkrɛs ɪt /

noun

1. a metal cup or basket often mounted on a pole or suspended from above, containing oil, pitch, a rope steeped in rosin, etc., burned as a light or beacon.

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cresset British  

/ ˈkrɛsɪt /

noun

1. history a metal basket mounted on a pole in which oil or pitch was burned for illumination

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Etymology

Origin of cresset

1325–75; Middle English < Anglo-French, Old French craisset, equivalent to cras grease + -et -et

Example Sentences

Candlelight from the cresset over the great bed threw the faintest flicker of brown light over the stones.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

The candle in the cresset still burned dimly, but the lack of windows in the stone walls made it impossible to tell whether it was dawn or the middle of the night.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Suspended from the ceiling was a cresset, and from the cresset hung curtains of silk around the bed.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

At one of the larger intersections, Albert stopped under a flaming cresset and looked at his arm.

From Insidekick by Bone, Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin)

Little, early birds—I had not heard the lark—fluttered in and out of the foamy meadow-sea, plunging under the surf of flowers washed high in one corner, swinging out again, dashing past the crimson sorrel cresset.

From The White Peacock by Lawrence, D. H. (David Herbert)