cresting

[kres-ting]

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.

Origin of cresting

First recorded in 1865–70; crest + -ing¹

crest

[krest]

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 formscrest·ed, adjectivecrest·less, adjectivesub·crest, nounun·crest·ed, adjectiveun·der·crest, noun

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

Related Words for cresting

climax, crest, culminate, conquer, climb, finish, cover, cap, face, exceed, complete, beat, clinch, crown, surpass, eclipse, lick, subdue, down, hurdle

Examples from the Web for cresting

Historical Examples of cresting

"Yes," replied Bernardine, cresting her beautiful head, proudly.
Jolly Sally Pendleton
Laura Jean Libbey
The pierced pattern in cresting should be done as already described for Fig. 24.
Wood-Carving
George Jack
Now and then a rubbish pile will show itself, cresting the pure ice.
Adrift in the Arctic Ice Pack
Elisha Kent Kane
Except when cresting a ridge, the traveller swelters under an unbroken roof of impenetrable foliage.
South America Observations and Impressions
James Bryce
Six miles from Menin and four from Ypres it passes through the village of Gheluvelt, cresting there the ridge of hills.
The Battles in Flanders From Ypres to Neuve Chapelle
Edmund Dane

British Dictionary definitions for cresting

cresting

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

crest

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

CREST

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

Word Origin and History for cresting

crest

early 14c., from Old French creste "tuft, comb" (Modern French crête), from Latin crista "tuft, plume," perhaps related to word for "hair" (e.g. crinis), but it also was used for crest of a cock or a helmet. Replaced Old English hris.

crest

late 14c., "provide with a crest," from Old French crester, from creste (see crest (n.)). Meaning "to come over the top of" is from 1832. Related: Crested; cresting.

cresting in Medicine