cresting

[kres-ting] /ˈkrɛs tɪŋ/
noun
1.
Architecture. a decorative coping, balustrade, etc., usually designed to give an interesting skyline.
2.
Furniture. ornamentation either carved or sawed in the top rail of a piece or else added to it.
3.
a system of ornamental ridges or flutes on a piece of plate armor.
Origin
1865-70; crest + -ing1

crest

[krest] /krɛst/
noun
1.
the highest part of a hill or mountain range; summit.
2.
the head or top of anything.
3.
a ridge or ridgelike formation.
4.
the foamy top of a wave.
5.
the point of highest flood, as of a river.
6.
the highest point or level; climax; culmination.
7.
a tuft or other natural growth on the top of the head of an animal, as the comb of a rooster.
8.
anything resembling or suggesting such a tuft.
9.
the ridge of the neck of a horse, dog, etc.
10.
the mane growing from this ridge.
11.
an ornament or heraldic device surmounting a helmet.
12.
a helmet.
13.
a ridge running from front to back along the top of a helmet; comb.
14.
Heraldry. a figure borne above the escutcheon in an achievement of arms, either on a helmet or by itself as a distinguishing device.
15.
Anatomy. a ridge, especially on a bone.
16.
a ridge or other prominence on any part of the body of an animal.
17.
Architecture. a cresting.
18.
Machinery. (in a screw or other threaded object) the ridge or surface farthest from the body of the object and defined by the flanks of the thread.
Compare root1 (def 15a).
verb (used with object)
19.
to furnish with a crest.
20.
to serve as a crest for; crown or top.
21.
to reach the crest or summit of (a hill, mountain, etc.).
verb (used without object)
22.
to form or rise to a crest, as a wave or river.
23.
to reach the crest or highest level:
Interest in the project has crested.
Origin
1275-1325; Middle English creste < Old French < Latin crista
Related forms
crested, adjective
crestless, adjective
subcrest, noun
uncrested, adjective
undercrest, noun
Examples from the web for cresting
  • With seas cresting at no more than five feet and an experienced crew, no one considered capsizing a credible possibility.
  • Here's another peculiarity: this ritual of relaxation is cresting at a cultural moment when noise and agitation are everywhere.
  • The dormer windows, decorative cornice and filigree iron cresting are other notable elements in the architecture.
  • The exterior and bearing walls are brick, while the roof is pressed metal with castellated cresting and metal ridge finials.
  • They have rooflines which are frequently accented with turrets, towers, pedimented gables and iron cresting.
  • The steep, slate-covered mansard roof is topped with intricate iron cresting to emphasize its height and irregularity.
British Dictionary definitions for cresting

cresting

/ˈkrɛstɪŋ/
noun
1.
an ornamental ridge along the top of a roof, wall, etc
2.
(carpentry) a shaped decorative toprail or horizontal carved ornament surmounting a chair, mirror, etc

crest

/krɛst/
noun
1.
a tuft or growth of feathers, fur, or skin along the top of the heads of some birds, reptiles, and other animals
2.
something resembling or suggesting this
3.
the top, highest point, or highest stage of something
4.
a ridge on the neck of a horse, dog, lion, etc
5.
the mane or hair growing from this ridge
6.
an ornamental piece, such as a plume, on top of a helmet
7.
(heraldry) a symbol of a family or office, usually representing a beast or bird, borne in addition to a coat of arms and used in medieval times to decorate the helmet
8.
a ridge along the top of a roof, wall, etc
9.
a ridge along the surface of a bone
10.
(archery) Also called cresting. identifying rings painted around an arrow shaft
verb
11.
(intransitive) to come or rise to a high point
12.
(transitive) to lie at the top of; cap
13.
(transitive) to go to or reach the top of (a hill, wave, etc)
Derived Forms
crested, adjective
crestless, adjective
Word Origin
C14: from Old French creste, from Latin crista

CREST

/krɛst/
noun
1.
an electronic share-settlement system, created by the Bank of England and owned by 69 firms, that began operations in 1996
Word Origin
C20: from CrestCo, the name of the operating company
Word Origin and History for cresting

crest

n.

early 14c., from Old French creste "tuft, comb" (Modern French crête), from Latin crista "tuft, plume," perhaps related to word for "hair" (e.g. crinis), but it also was used for crest of a cock or a helmet. Replaced Old English hris.

v.

late 14c., "provide with a crest," from Old French crester, from creste (see crest (n.)). Meaning "to come over the top of" is from 1832. Related: Crested; cresting.

cresting in Medicine

crest (krěst)
n.
A projection or ridge, especially of bone; cresta.

cresting in Science
crest
  (krěst)   
The part of a wave with greatest magnitude; the highest part of a wave. Compare trough. See more at wave.
Encyclopedia Article for cresting

brattishing

decorative architectural repeat motif applied to the top of a wall, screen, or roof. Widely used during the Gothic period (the 12th through the 15th century), it was frequently found on the bressummer, or superstructure, of a church and on the cornice of the church rood screen, a partition separating the east end of the nave from the chancel, or area around the altar.

Learn more about brattishing with a free trial on Britannica.com