cruet

[kroo-it]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR cruet ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a glass bottle, especially one for holding vinegar, oil, etc., for the table.

Origin of cruet

1250–1300; Middle English < Anglo-French, equivalent to Old French cru(i)e pitcher (< Frankish *krūka; compare Old English crūce pot) + -et -et

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

Related Words for cruet

jug, flask, urn, vase, can, bottle, vessel, basin, pot, beaker, decanter, jar, bucket, carafe, tub, vial, glass, chalice, canteen, crock

Examples from the Web for cruet

Historical Examples of cruet

But I speak of the cruet sauces, where the quintessence of the sapid is condensed in a phial.
Crotchet Castle
Thomas Love Peacock
They'd mix about as well as a cruet of vinegar and a313 pail of lard.
Shorty McCabe on the Job
Sewell Ford
A small quantity may be kept in a cruet; retaining the leaves at the bottom.
Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book
Eliza Leslie
His eyes fell upon the cruet which contained the consecrated oil.
Robert Annys: Poor Priest
Annie Nathan Meyer
Hang the pepper-box to his nose, nurse, then he will be a cruet.
Funny Stories Told By The Soldiers
Carleton B. Case

British Dictionary definitions for cruet

cruet

noun

a small container for holding pepper, salt, vinegar, oil, etc, at table

a set of such containers, esp on a stand

Christianity either of a pair of small containers for the wine and water used in the Eucharist

Australian a slang word for head (def. 1)

do one's cruet Australian slang to be extremely angry; go into a rage

pl n

Australian slang the testicles

Word Origin for cruet

C13: from Anglo-French, diminutive of Old French crue flask, of Germanic origin; compare Old Saxon krūka, Old English crūce pot

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 cruet

"small glass bottle for vinegar, oil, etc.," c.1300, Anglo-French diminutive of Old French crue "an earthen pot," from Frankish *kruka or some other Germanic source (cf. Old High German kruog); related to crock.