crest

 
Pronunciation: /krɛst/

noun

  • 1a comb or tuft of feathers, fur, or skin on the head of a bird or other animal: a large game bird with a conspicuous erect red crest
  • a plume of feathers on a helmet.
  • 2the top of a mountain or hill: she reached the crest of the hill
  • Anatomy a ridge along the surface of a bone: biopsy specimens of the iliac crest were obtained under local anaesthesia
  • the upper line of the neck of a horse or other mammal: take hold of the mane halfway up the horse’s crest
  • 3the curling foamy top of a wave: a high wave formed by the meeting of two crests
  • 4 Heraldry a distinctive device representing a family or corporate body, borne above the shield of a coat of arms (originally as worn on a helmet) or separately reproduced, for example on writing paper.

verb

  • 1 [with object] reach the top of (a hill or wave): she crested a hill and saw the valley spread out before her
  • [no object] US (of a river, flood, etc.) rise to its highest level.
  • 2 [no object] (of a wave) form a curling foamy top: the swell begins to curl and crest
  • 3 (be crested with) have attached at the top: his helmet was crested with a fan of spikes

Phrases

on the crest of a wave

at a very successful point: his career is on the crest of a wave at present

Derivatives

crestless

adjective

Origin:

Middle English: from Old French creste, from Latin crista 'tuft, plume'