Hypertext Webster Gateway: "Cresset"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Cresset \Cres"set\ (kr?s"s?t), n. [OF. crasset, cresset, sort of
lamp or torch; perh. of Dutch or German origin, and akin to
E. cruse, F. creuset crucible, E. crucible.]
1. An open frame or basket of iron, filled with combustible
material, to be burned as a beacon; an open lamp or
firrepan carried on a pole in nocturnal processions.
Starry lamps and blazing cressets, fed With naphtha
and asphaltus. --Milton.
As a cresset true that darts its length Of beamy
luster from a tower of strength. --Wordsworth.
2. (Coopering) A small furnace or iron cage to hold fire for
charring the inside of a cask, and making the staves
flexible. --Knight.
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