from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Cream \Cream\ (kr[=e]m), n. [F. cr[^e]me, perh. fr. LL. crema
cream of milk; cf. L. cremor thick juice or broth, perh. akin
to cremare to burn.]
1. The rich, oily, and yellowish part of milk, which, when
the milk stands unagitated, rises, and collects on the
surface. It is the part of milk from which butter is
obtained.
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2. The part of any liquor that rises, and collects on the
surface. [R.]
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3. A delicacy of several kinds prepared for the table from
cream, etc., or so as to resemble cream.
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4. A cosmetic; a creamlike medicinal preparation.
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In vain she tries her paste and creams,
To smooth her skin or hide its seams. --Goldsmith.
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5. The best or choicest part of a thing; the quintessence;
as, the cream of a jest or story; the cream of a
collection of books or pictures.
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Welcome, O flower and cream of knights errant.
--Shelton.
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{Bavarian cream}, a preparation of gelatin, cream, sugar, and
eggs, whipped; -- to be eaten cold.
{Cold cream}, an ointment made of white wax, almond oil, rose
water, and borax, and used as a salve for the hands and
lips.
{Cream cheese}, a kind of cheese made from curd from which
the cream has not been taken off, or to which cream has
been added.
{Cream gauge}, an instrument to test milk, being usually a
graduated glass tube in which the milk is placed for the
cream to rise.
{Cream nut}, the Brazil nut.
{Cream of lime}.
(a) A scum of calcium carbonate which forms on a solution
of milk of lime from the carbon dioxide of the air.
(b) A thick creamy emulsion of lime in water.
{Cream of tartar} (Chem.), purified tartar or argol; so
called because of the crust of crystals which forms on the
surface of the liquor in the process of purification by
recrystallization. It is a white crystalline substance,
with a gritty acid taste, and is used very largely as an
ingredient of baking powders; -- called also {potassium
bitartrate}, {acid potassium tartrate}, etc.
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