i Register
In some senses, russet is marked as archaic. Watch for register when choosing this word.
noun
A reddish-brown color.
Rhacĭnus, ni; m. Plin[y] ex ῥάχινον, ob coloris ſimilitudinem. A fiſh of ruſſet colour.
Many of theſe [turf-bogs] are capable of being converted by induſtry into excellent ground, and, where they occupy not too great a proportion of the land, they compenſate for their ruſſet or ſable hues by the abundance of fuel which they yield.
A coarse, reddish-brown, homespun fabric; clothes made with such fabric.
Of the various kinds of woollens, the cheapest appear to be those which are known by the names of ‘bluett,’ ‘russet,’ and ‘blanket.’ […] The second appears to have been almost uniformly an inferior article; but the third is the cheapest of all. The first two terms point to the colour of the stuff, blanket being undyed stuff. It seems that sometimes russet is understood to be cloth made from black wool.
A variety of apple with rough, russet-colored skin.
Russet is the name of a group of apples with distinctive matt brown skin, often spotted or with a faint red flush, and of a flattened lopsided shape. The flesh is crisp and the apples keep well. The flavour is unusual and pearlike. Russets are used both for eating and for cooking.
A variety of potato with rough, dark gray-brown skin.
The cauſe of the curled diſease he attributes to potatoes being of late years produced from ſeed inſtead of roots as formerly. Such will not ſtand good more than two or three years, uſe what method you pleaſe. Laſt ſpring he ſet the old red and white ruſſets, and had not a curled potato amongſt them.
Potatoes come in so many different shapes, sizes, colors, and types that you need to choose the right potato for the job—dry fluffy russets for baking or gnocchi, waxy reds for potato salads, buttery yellow Sieglinde and blue heirlooms for colorful mashes, French fingerlings to steam for fancy dinners.
adj
Having a reddish-brown color.
But looke, the Morne in Ruſſet Mantle clad, / Walkes o're the dew of yon high Eaſterne Hill, […]
Oh, long may thoſe, bleſt Cherry-Tree, / Whoſe generous hearts incircle thee, / A deſtiny ſo partial ſhare, / As actual bliſs and fancied care! / And long as theſe fair woodbines twine / Around this ruſſet coat of thine, / May I to all thy friends be join'd / In fondeſt union of the mind: […]
Gray or ash-colored.
[W]hen they him ſpie, / As Wilde-geeſe, that the creeping Fowler eye, / Or ruſſed^([sic – meaning russet])-pated choughes, many in ſort / (Riſing and cawing at the guns report) / Seuer themſelues, and madly ſweepe the skye: / So at his ſight, away his fellowes flye, […]
Rustic, homespun, coarse, plain.
Hencefoorth my wooing minde ſhalbe expreſt / In ruſſet yeas, and honeſt kerſie noes.
The condition of leather when its treatment is complete, but it is not yet colored (stained) and polished.
[…] I received some bales of leather, that when I sent them to the Currier's to wax them, they having been at the Currier's before, as they came up in the russet state, when I had sent them back to be waxed, he sent me back word they were so badly tanned, and so burnt in the tanning, he could not recommend them, […]
Usually the London leather trade exhibits little animation during the latter part of June, but this year a fair general business was transacted at Leadenhall. […] [I]n curried leather, russet butts and middlings, kip butts of bright manufacture, calf skins, light grain, prime Cordovan, and harness appear in considerable request.
Having a rough skin that is reddish-brown or greyish; russeted.
Many apple varieties are mottled or russet, with a rough, dull skin hiding crisp, flavorful flesh.
verb
To develop reddish-brown spots; to cause russeting.
Pear psylla causes damage when nymphs, feeding at high densities on leaves, produce enough honeydew to drip onto the fruit. A black, sooty mold fungus then grows into the honeydew, distorting and russeting the fruit surface, which substantially lowers its commercial value, […]
Cultivars differ greatly in their propensity to russet: the characteristic is heritable but more than one factor seems to be involved[…].