cresting

[ kres-ting ]

/ ˈkrɛs tɪŋ /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cresting ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Architecture. a decorative coping, balustrade, etc., usually designed to give an interesting skyline.

Furniture. ornamentation either carved or sawed in the top rail of a piece or else added to it.

a system of ornamental ridges or flutes on a piece of plate armor.

Nearby words

crested dog's-tail, crested swift, crested tit, crested wheatgrass, crestfallen, cresting, crestone needle, crestone peak, crestwood, cresyl, cresylic

Origin of cresting

First recorded in 1865–70; crest + -ing¹

Definition for cresting (2 of 2)

crest

[ krest ]

/ krɛst /

noun

the highest part of a hill or mountain range; summit.

the head or top of anything.

a ridge or ridgelike formation.

the foamy top of a wave.

the point of highest flood, as of a river.

the highest point or level; climax; culmination.

a tuft or other natural growth on the top of the head of an animal, as the comb of a rooster.

anything resembling or suggesting such a tuft.

the ridge of the neck of a horse, dog, etc.

the mane growing from this ridge.

an ornament or heraldic device surmounting a helmet.

a helmet.

a ridge running from front to back along the top of a helmet; comb.

Heraldry. a figure borne above the escutcheon in an achievement of arms, either on a helmet or by itself as a distinguishing device.

Anatomy. a ridge, especially on a bone.

a ridge or other prominence on any part of the body of an animal.

Architecture. a cresting.

Machinery. (in a screw or other threaded object) the ridge or surface farthest from the body of the object and defined by the flanks of the thread.Compare root¹(def 15a).

verb (used with object)

to furnish with a crest.

to serve as a crest for; crown or top.

to reach the crest or summit of (a hill, mountain, etc.).

verb (used without object)

to form or rise to a crest, as a wave or river.

to reach the crest or highest level: Interest in the project has crested.

Origin of crest

1275–1325; Middle English creste < Old French < Latin crista

Related forms

crest·ed, adjectivecrest·less, adjectivesub·crest, nounun·crest·ed, adjective

un·der·crest, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for cresting

A globe-shaped ciborium, with cresting and knop of the fourteenth century, is interesting.
The Shores of the Adriatic|F. Hamilton Jackson
It is cylindrical in form, divided into three storeys of open tracery, and crowned with a cresting of three-lobed leaves.
Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Wells|Percy Dearmer
Cresting a rise about three miles distant I made out a dark mass moving forward along our track, and that at a rapid rate.
A Frontier Mystery|Bertram Mitford
The silver mace-heads were mostly plain, with a cresting of leaves or flowers in the 15th and 16th centuries.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 17, Slice 2|Various

The total height of this screen is not less than thirty feet, of which the cresting is about a third.
Some Account of Gothic Architecture in Spain|George Edmund Street

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (1 of 3)

cresting

/ (ˈkrɛstɪŋ) /

noun

an ornamental ridge along the top of a roof, wall, etc

carpentry a shaped decorative toprail or horizontal carved ornament surmounting a chair, mirror, etc

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (2 of 3)

crest

/ (krɛst) /

noun

a tuft or growth of feathers, fur, or skin along the top of the heads of some birds, reptiles, and other animals

something resembling or suggesting this

the top, highest point, or highest stage of something

a ridge on the neck of a horse, dog, lion, etc

the mane or hair growing from this ridge

an ornamental piece, such as a plume, on top of a helmet

heraldry a symbol of a family or office, usually representing a beast or bird, borne in addition to a coat of arms and used in medieval times to decorate the helmet

a ridge along the top of a roof, wall, etc

a ridge along the surface of a bone

Also called: cresting archery identifying rings painted around an arrow shaft

verb

(intr) to come or rise to a high point

(tr) to lie at the top of; cap

(tr) to go to or reach the top of (a hill, wave, etc)

Derived Formscrested, adjectivecrestless, adjective

Word Origin for crest

C14: from Old French creste, from Latin crista

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (3 of 3)

CREST

/ (krɛst) /

noun

an electronic share-settlement system, created by the Bank of England and owned by 69 firms, that began operations in 1996

Word Origin for CREST

C20: from CrestCo, the name of the operating company

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

Medicine definitions for cresting

crest

[ krĕst ]

n.

A projection or ridge, especially of bone; cresta.

Science definitions for cresting

crest

[ krĕst ]

The part of a wave with greatest magnitude; the highest part of a wave. Compare trough. See more at wave.

cresting

noun

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of cresting

Definition for cresting (2 of 2)

crest

noun

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

Origin of crest

Examples from the Web for cresting

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (1 of 3)

cresting

noun

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (2 of 3)

crest

noun

verb

Word Origin for crest

British Dictionary definitions for cresting (3 of 3)

CREST

noun

Word Origin for CREST

Medicine definitions for cresting

crest

n.

Science definitions for cresting

crest