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

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

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

At the head of each couch stood a pillar like a tombstone, with the guest’s name engraved upon it, while overhead swung a cresset such as men hang in vaults of the dead.

From Roman Society from Nero to Marcus Aurelius by Dill, Samuel

How the red flare of torch and cresset would flicker on the sheen of silk, the luster of velvet, the polished brightness of morion and spear.

From Cynthia's Chauffeur by Tracy, Louis