352 C R E 
CRES'CIVE, adj. [from crefco, Lat.] Iucreafing; 
growing : 
So the prince obfcur’d his contemplation 
Under the veil of wildnefs, which no doubt 
Grew, like the hummer grafs, faded by night, 
Unfeen, yet crefcive in his faculty. Shakefpeare. 
CRES'PY, a town of France, and principal place of a 
diftrict, in the department of the Oife : twelve miles 
fouth of Compeigne, and twelve eaft-north-eaft of Senlis. 
CRESS, f. in botany. See Cardamine. BAS¬ 
TARD; fee Thlaspi. GARDEN; fee Lepidium. 
INDIAN; fee Tropceolum. ROCK; fee Iberis. 
ROCKET; feeVELLA. SWINE’s ; fee Cochlearia. 
WATER and WINTER; fee Sisymbrium. 
CRES'SA, [ [A Cretan plant; thus Ovid calls Phae¬ 
dra creffa puella, a-Cretan damfel.] In botany, a genus 
of the clafs pentandria, order digynia. The generic cha¬ 
racters are—Calyx : perianthium five-leaved ; leaflets 
ovate, obtufe, .incumbent, permanent. Corolla: one- 
petalled, falver-form; tube length of the calyx, bellied 
below; border five-parted; divifions ovate, acute, 
fpreading. Stamina : filaments five, capillary, long, fit¬ 
ting on the tube of the corolla ; antherae roundiflt." Pif- 
tillum : germ ovate ; ftyles two, filiform, length of the 
ftamens; . ftigmas fimple. Pericarpium : capfule ovate, 
one-celled, two-valved, a little longer than the calyx. 
Seeds: ovate-oblong.— Effential CharaEler. Calyx, five¬ 
leaved; corolla, falver-form; filaments, fitting on the 
tube ; capfule, two-valved, one-feeded. 
Species, r. Creffa Cretica : corollas beardlefs, cap- 
fules one-feeded. This is a fmall plant, and very fhrub- 
by ; root long, (lender, jointed, white ; hence arife fe- 
veral (terns, not fewer than five, long, (lender, round, 
whitifli, whence at (liort. intervals fpring many (lender 
fhort twigs, furrounded on every fide with many very 
fmall leaves, the fize and form of a lentilthe whole 
forming a very clofe round (limb; the fmall .flowers 
come out at the ends of the twigs; the fruit is fmall, 
oblong, and cylindric, of the fize, and fomewhat of the 
form, of a grain of wheat ; the whole plant is white, and 
has a fait tafte. Native of Crete, on the fea fhores ; and 
at Ofiia near Rome. 
2. Crefla Indica : corollas bearded at the tip, capfules 
four feeded. It differs from the preceding in having 
the corolla fnow-white, hairy on the outfide, efpecially 
at the ends of the fegments, and four feeds in the cap¬ 
fule. Native of the Eaft Indies, in fait marlhes; ob- 
ferved there by Koenig. 
CRESSAN'GES, a town of France, in the department 
of the Allier, and chief place of a canton, in the diftridt 
of Montmarault: ten miles fouth-weft of Moulins. 
CRES'SET, f [ croijfctte , Fr. becaufe beacons had 
erodes anciently on their tops.] A great light fet lipoma 
beacon, light-houfe, or watch-tower. Hanmer, 
From the arched roof. 
Pendent by fubtle magic, many a row 
Of flarry lamps, and blazing creels, fed 
With naphtha and afphaltus, yielded light 
As from a (ky. - Milton. 
CRES'SY. See Crecy. 
CREST, f. [ crijla , Lat.] The plume of feathers on 
the top of the ancient helmet; the helmet: 
His valour, (hewn upon our crefs to-day, 
Hath taught us how to cherifti Inch high deeds, 
Ev’n in the bofom of our adverfaries. Shakefpeare. 
The comb of a cock : whence Milton calls him crefcd: 
Others on ground 
Walk’d firm; the crefed cock, whofe clarion founds 
The filent hours. Milton. 
The ornament of the helmet in heraldry, which fee.— 
Of what efteem crefs were, 'in the time of Edward the 
Third’s reign, may appear by his giving an eagle, which 
C R E 
he himfelf had formerly borne, for a cref, to William 
Montacute, earl of Salilbury. Camden. —Any tuft or or. 
nament on the head ; as fome which the poets aflign to 
ferpents: 
Their crefs divide, 
And, tow’ring o’er his head, in triumph ride; Dryden, 
Pride; fpirit; fire; courage; loftinefs of mien: 
When horfes (hould endure the bloody fpur, 
They fall their crefs. Shakefpeare. 
To CREST, v.a. To ferve as a creft for.—His reared 
arm crefcd the world. Shakefpeare. 
CREST, a town of France, in the department of the 
Puy-de-Dome : two leagues fouth-eaft of Clermont Fer¬ 
nand. 
CREST, a town of France, and principal place of a 
diftridt, in the department of the Drome, near which is 
a caflle, a few years fince ufed as a prifon for date crimi¬ 
nals : five leagues north of Montelimart, and four and a 
half fouth-fouth-eaft of Valence. 
CREST-FALLEN, adj. Dejected; funk; difpirited ; 
cowed; heartlefs ; fpiritlefs—I warrant you, they would 
whip me with their fine wits, till I were as cref-fallen as 
a dried pear. Shakefpeare. 
CREST'ED, adj. [from crifatus } Lat.] Adorned with 
a plume or creft : 
The bold Afcalonites 
Then grov’ling foil’d their crefcd helmets in the dud. 
Milton - ! 
Wearing a comb : 
The crefed bird (hall by experience know, 
Jove made not him his mafter-pi.ece below. Dryden. 
CREST'LESS, adj. Not dignified with coat-armour;; 
not of any eminent family : 
His grandfather was Lionel duke of Clarence, 
Third fon to the third Edward king of England. 
Sprung creflcfs yeomen from fo deep a root ! Shakefpeare. 
CRES'TON, a town of Thrace, capital of a part of 
the country called Crefionia. The inhabitants had each 
many wives ; and when the hu(band died, (he who had 
received the greateft (hare of his affection, was cheerfully 
(lain on his grave. Herodotus. 
CRES'WELL, f. With (hoe-makers; the broad edge 
of the foie of a (hoe. 
CRE'TA,yi [xptjlj;, from Crete, the place whence it 
was firft brought.] That fpecies of calcareous earth 
commonly known by the name of chalk. 
CRETA'CEOUS, adj. [from creta, chalk, Lat.] Hav¬ 
ing the qualities of chalk ; chalky.—What gives the 
light, feems hard to fay; whether it be the cretaceous 
fait, the nitrous fait, or fome igneous particles. Gres/.—. 
Abounding with chalk : 
Not from the fable ground expedt fuccefs. 
Nor from cretaceous, ftubborn and jejune. Philips. 
CRETA'TED, adj. [ cretatus , Lat.] Rubbed with 
chalk. 
CRETE, a celebrated ifland in the Mediterranean, 
fituated between twenty-two and twenty-feven degrees of 
eaft longitude, and between thirty-five and thirty-fix of 
north latitude. It has the Archipelago to the north, 
the African fea to the fouth, the Carpathian fea to the 
eaft, and the Ionian to the weft. Anciently it was known 
by the names of Aeria, Chtkonia, Idcea , Curete, Macaris, &c. 
but its moft common name was that of Crete. There are 
a variety of opinions concerning the firft inhabitants of 
this ifland. Crete received its name from Cres, the firft 
of its monarchs. He was author of feveral ufeful inven¬ 
tions, which contributed to the happinefs of his fubjedts. 
Prompted by gratitude, they endeavoured to perpetuate 
the memory of his favours, by naming the ifland after 
him. He was fucceeded by a long fucceflion of princes, 
until the ifland was overrun with foreigners, and formed 
-into 
