Crest definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

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Definitions (68)

American Heritage Dictionary (14)

noun A usually ornamental tuft, ridge, or similar projection on the head of a bird or other animal.
noun An elevated, irregularly toothed ridge on the stigmas of certain flowers.
noun A ridge or an appendage on a plant part, such as on a leaf or petal.

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Century Dictionary (44)

A tuft or other natural process growing upon the top of an animal's head, as the comb of a cock, a swelling on the head of a serpent, etc. See crista. With stones, and brands, and fire, attack His rising crest, and drive the serpent back. C. Pitt, tr. of Vida's Art of Poetry. Crests proper belong to the top of the head, but may be also held to include such growths on its side. … Crests may be divided into two kinds: 1, where the feathers are simply lengthened or otherwise enlarged; and 2, where the texture, and sometimes even the structure, is altered. Nearly all birds possess the power of moving and elevating the feathers on the head, simulating a slight crest in moments of excitement. Coues, Key to N. A. Birds, p. 99.
Anything resembling, suggestive of, or occupying the same relative position as a crest. An article of dress or ornament; specifically, in armor, an upright ornament of a helmet, especially when not long and floating like a plume of feathers or a cointoise, as a ridge of metal, hair, bristles, feathers, or the like. Crests of diverse forms were usual on ancient helmets, and have been more or less closely imitated in the various forms of crest affixed to the helmets of some modern mounted troops, etc. Stiff crests of hair or feathers were often worn by knights in the middle ages. (Compare aigret.) The crest in medieval armor was early affected by heraldic considerations (see ), whether formally, as being the heraldic crest itself, or by the necessity of using a badge or cognizance, whether temporary or permanent: thus, the tilting-helmet was often surmounted by an elaborate structure in cuir-bouilli or even in thin metal, representing an animal or the head of an animal, or a human figure. A golden Viper … was erected vpon the crest of his helmet. Coryat, Crudities, I. 120. She stood upon the castle wall, … She watch'd my crest among them all, … She saw me fight, she heard me call. Tennyson, Ballad of Oriana.
In heraldry, a part of an achievement borne outside of and above the escutcheon. There are sometimes two crests, which are borne on the sides. When the crest is not specially mentioned as emerging from a coronet, chapeau, or the like, it is assumed to be borne upon a wreath. A crest is not properly borne by a woman, or by a city or other corporate body, as it is always assumed to be the ornament worn upon the helmet. The crest is a raised arm, holding, in a threatening attitude, a drawn sabre. Sumner, True Grandeur of [Nations.

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His troops, largely composed of those famous Texas regiments which Lee had said “fought grandly and nobly,” and upon whom he relied “in all tight places,” responded to his ardent orders: a small run was crossed, the men rushed up the slope, and the crest was almost in their very grasp. — A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee
As I write this at 9am on Friday, the newest forecast is that the crest will be at 32 feet in about 4 hours. — CubsNet.com
Flood forecasters are predicting the crest could be around 2006 levels, which would cause some damage but not be as dire as in 1997. — CBC | Top Stories News
At the crest was an abrupt outcropping of blackened rocks, where we stopped to locate the two animals. — In Africa Hunting Adventures in the Big Game Country
Twenty-five yards farther along on the crest was another little ledge of rocks, and we worked our way silently along to it in the expectation that the lions might have advanced that far. — In Africa Hunting Adventures in the Big Game Country

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ridge · summit · plume · rim · brow · height · fringe · expanse · crag · edge · pinnacle · spur

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English creste, from Old French, from Latin crista; see sker-² in Indo-European roots.

Century Dictionary (2)

Early modern English also creast, from Middle English crest, creste, rarely creest, crist, from Old French creste, creiste, French créte = Provencal Spanish Italian cresta = Portuguese crista, from Latin crista, a comb or tuft on the head of a bird or serpent, a crest.
Early modern English also creast; from Middle English cresten; from crest, n.

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