- a metal cup or basket often mounted on a pole or suspended from above, containing oil, pitch, a rope steeped in rosin, etc., burned as a light or beacon.
Origin of cresset
Examples from the Web for cresset
Historical Examples of cresset
A splinter of fir was burning in the cresset, and the fire was lighted in the stove.Russian Fairy Tales
W. R. S. Ralston
The broken door let them into a small courtyard, lit by a cresset.The People of the Black Circle
Robert E. Howard
The curtains in the cabin swayed to and fro, as did the cresset of the lamp.Ulric the Jarl
William O. Stoddard
She stood under the cresset's light like a rock, while Lucy, like a wave, fretted about her.Barbara Lynn
Emily J. Jenkinson
The cresset moon was up in heaven—at least, Emma said it was—when we started.
- history a metal basket mounted on a pole in which oil or pitch was burned for illumination