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GeezerVison is showing www.dictionary.com — CRESCENT Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

Synonyms

crescent

American  
[kres-uhnt] / ˈkrɛs ənt /

noun

  • crescents
    plural
  1. a shape resembling a segment of a ring tapering to points at the ends.

  2. something, as a roll or cookie, having this shape.

  3. Astronomy.

    1. the figure of the moon in its first or last quarter, resembling a segment of a ring tapering to points at the ends.

    2. the similar figure of Mercury and Venus on either side of inferior conjunction, when seen through a telescope.

  4. the emblem of Turkey or of Islam.

  5. the power, religion, or civilization of Turkey or of Islam.

  6. Also called Chinese crescent, Chinese pavilion, jingling Johnny, pavillon Chinois, Turkish crescent. a musical percussion instrument of Turkish origin, consisting of a pole bearing a crescent-shaped metal plate, topped with a pavillon, and hung with small bells.

  7. Chiefly British.

    1. a curved street, often having solid façades of unified architectural design.

    2. the curve or curved portion of a street.

  8. Heraldry. a representation of a crescent moon, horns upward unless otherwise specified, used as the cadency mark of a second son.


adjective

  1. shaped like a crescent.

  2. increasing; growing.

crescent British  
/ ˈkrɛsənt, -zənt /

noun

  1. the biconcave shape of the moon in its first or last quarters

  2. any shape or object resembling this

    1. a crescent-shaped street, often lined with houses of the same style

    2. ( capital when part of a name )

      Pelham Crescent

  3. heraldry a crescent moon, used as the cadency mark of a second son

  4. (often capital)

    1. the emblem of Islam or Turkey

    2. Islamic or Turkish power

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. archaic increasing or growing

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
crescent Scientific  
/ krĕs′ənt /
  1. Partly but less than half illuminated. Used to describe the Moon or a planet.

  2. Compare gibbous


Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

  • crescentic
    adjective
  • subcrescentic
    adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

  • crescents
    plural

Etymology

Origin of crescent

1350–1400; < Latin crēscent- (stem of crēscēns ) present participle of crēscere to grow ( see create, -esce); replacing Middle English cressaunt < Anglo-French < Latin as above


Explanation

Vocabulary.com

A crescent is a thin, curved shape that’s thicker in the middle and tapers to thin points at each end, like the little sliver of moon you might notice in the sky. Crescent was first used to describe the shape of the waxing, or growing moon, and if you listen closely you can hear its similarity to increase. But a crescent can be any thin, curved shape. You might see a crescent of light hitting the pavement or a crescent of beach next to the ocean. Crescent can also act as an adjective describing something that has that shape, like a crescent moon or a crescent roll.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

crescent crescents

He said you could feel the temperature dropping and the light getting dimmer, before what looked like a crescent moon appeared, except it was a "crescent sun".

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026

Logo link to BBC

Images taken by the spacecraft's multispectral camera showed the crescent stretching farther around the planet than expected.

From Science Daily ● May 26, 2026

Logo link to Science Daily

Expect, perhaps, a crescent moon in pajamas to be a new favorite.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 13, 2026

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Families and astronomers gathered at a site known locally as "top of the world" on Gaisby Lane, Shipley, to try to see a slither of the new crescent moon.

From BBC ● Mar. 20, 2026

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We just watch her—Blanche of Castile, Queen Mother of France—flailing and sinking into the crescent bay.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

Inside Jimi, normally pliable, disc-shaped red blood cells deformed into rigid crescents.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 28, 2023

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And it is those handsome townhouses and sweeping crescents, along with traces of the Roman past, that bring in visitors by the coachload.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2021

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They’d have no idea what those crescents, triangles and wedges are even supposed to be, much less consider climbing it.

From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2021

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Once, hands wet from their hourly washing, I tried to turn the bathroom doorknob and my nails dug into my own palm, leaving four bright red crescents in my hand.

From Slate ● Dec. 31, 2020

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Coconut shavings are sprinkled above the top two slices, in wide crescents that look like eyebrows.

From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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