3 entries under this word
a. [Lat. crescens, p. pr. of crescere, to increase, It. crescere, Pr. crescer, creisser, Sp. & Pg. crecer, Fr. croître; It. crescente, Fr. croissant.] Increasing; growing.
Nature, crescent, does not grow alone In thews and bulk. Shak.
Astarte, queen of heaven, with crescent horns. Milton.
O, I see the crescent promise of my spirit hath not set. Tennyson.
n. [Fr. croissant, It. crescente, luna crescente. See supra.]
Sense 1. The increasing moon; the moon in her first quarter, or when defined by a concave and convex edge. Dryden.
Sense 2. (a.) The figure or likeness of the new moon, borne in the Turkish flag or national standard. (b.) The standard itself. (c.) The Turkish power.
The cross of our faith is replanted, The pale, dying crescent is daunted. Campbell.
Sense 3. One of three orders of knighthood; the first instituted by Charles I., king of Naples and Sicily, in 1268; the second by René of Anjou, in 1448; and the third by the Sultan Selim, in 1801. Of these, the last is still in existence, and is remarkable for the fact that none but Christians are eligible. Brande.
Sense 4. (Her.) A bearing in the form of a young or new moon.
v. t. To form into, or ornament with, a crescent, or something of crescent form. [Obs.]