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. [1913 Webster]

2.  The part of any liquor that rises, and collects on the surface. [1913 Webster]

3.  A delicacy of several kinds prepared for the table from cream, etc., or so as to resemble cream. [1913 Webster]

4.  A cosmetic; a creamlike medicinal preparation. [1913 Webster]
"In vain she tries her paste and creams,
To smooth her skin or hide its seams." [1913 Webster]

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. [1913 Webster]
"Welcome, O flower and cream of knights errant." [1913 Webster]

1.  To skim, or take off by skimming, as cream. [1913 Webster]

2.  To take off the best or choicest part of. [1913 Webster]

3.  To furnish with, or as with, cream. [1913 Webster]
"Creaming the fragrant cups." [1913 Webster]

   To form or become covered with cream; to become thick like cream; to assume the appearance of cream; hence, to grow stiff or formal; to mantle. [1913 Webster]
"There are a sort of men whose visages
Do cream and mantle like a standing pool." [1913 Webster]

cream, n., v., & adj.
--n.
1 a the fatty content of milk which gathers at the top and can be made into butter by churning. b this eaten (often whipped) with a dessert, as a cake-filling, etc. (strawberries and cream; cream gateau).
2 the part of a liquid that gathers at the top.
3 (usu. prec. by the) the best or choicest part of something, esp.: a the point of an anecdote. b an {eacute}lite group of people (the cream of the nation).
4 a creamlike preparation, esp. a cosmetic (hand cream).
5 a very pale yellow or off-white colour.
6 a a dish or sweet like or made with cream. b a soup or sauce containing milk or cream. c a full-bodied mellow sweet sherry. d a biscuit with a creamy sandwich filling. e a chocolate-covered usu. fruit-flavoured fondant.
--v.
1 tr. a take the cream from (milk). b take the best or a specified part from.
2 tr. work (butter etc.) to a creamy consistency.
3 tr. treat (the skin etc.) with cosmetic cream.
4 tr. add cream to (coffee etc.).
5 intr. (of milk or any other liquid) form a cream or scum.
6 tr. US colloq. defeat (esp. in a sporting contest).
--adj. pale yellow; off-white.

Idiom:
cream bun (or cake) a bun or cake filled or topped with cream. cream cheese a soft rich cheese made from unskimmed milk and cream. cream-coloured pale yellowish white. cream cracker Brit. a crisp dry unsweetened biscuit usu. eaten with cheese. cream-laid (or -wove) laid (or wove) cream-coloured paper. cream off
1 take (the best or a specified part) from a whole (creamed off the brightest pupils).
2 = sense 1b of v. cream of tartar purified and crystallized potassium hydrogen tartrate, used in medicine, baking powder, etc.
cream puff
1 a cake made of puff pastry filled with cream.
2 an ineffectual or effeminate person. cream soda a carbonated vanilla-flavoured soft drink. cream tea afternoon tea with scones, jam, and cream.

Etymology:
ME f. OF cre(s)me f. LL cramum (perh. f. Gaulish) & eccl.L chrisma CHRISM

N  importance, consequence, moment, prominence, consideration, mark, materialness, import, significance, concern, emphasis, interest, greatness, superiority, notability, weight, value, usefulness, gravity, seriousness, solemnity, no joke, no laughing matter, pressure, urgency, stress, matter of life and death, memorabilia, notabilia, great doings, red-letter day, great thing, great point, main chance, the be all and the end all, cardinal point, substance, gist, sum and substance, gravamen, head and front, important part, principal part, prominent part, essential part, half the battle, sine qua non, breath of one's nostrils, cream, salt, core, kernel, heart, nucleus, keynote, keystone, corner stone, trump card, salient points, top sawyer, first fiddle, prima donna, chief, triton among the minnows, 'it', important, of importance, momentous, material, to the point, not to be overlooked, not to be despised, not to be sneezed at, egregious, weighty, of note, notable, prominent, salient, signal, memorable, remarkable, unforgettable, worthy of remark, worthy of notice, never to be forgotten, stirring, eventful, grave, serious, earnest, noble, grand, solemn, impressive, commanding, imposing, urgent, pressing, critical, instant, paramount, essential, vital, all-absorbing, radical, cardinal, chief, main, prime, primary, principal, leading, capital, foremost, overruling, of vital importance in the front rank, first-rate, superior, considerable, marked, rare, significant, telling, trenchant, emphatic, pregnant, tanti, materially, in the main, above all, kat' exochin, par excellence, to crown all, to beat all, expende Hannibalem!.

N  goodness, excellence, merit, virtue, value, worth, price, super-excellence, supereminence, superiority, perfection, coup de maitre, masterpiece, chef d'ouvre, prime, flower, cream, elite, pick, A, nonesuch, nonpareil, creme de la creme, flower of the flock, cock of the roost, salt of the earth, champion, prodigy, tidbit, gem, gem of the first water, bijou, precious stone, jewel, pearl, diamond, ruby, brilliant, treasure, good thing, rara avis, one in a thousand, beneficence, good man, harmless, hurtless, unobnoxious, innocuous, innocent, inoffensive, beneficial, valuable, of value, serviceable, advantageous, edifying, profitable, salutary, favorable, propitious fair, good, good as gold, excellent, better, superior, above par, nice, fine, genuine, best, choice, select, picked, elect, recherche, rare, priceless, unparagoned, unparalleled, superlatively, good, bully, crackajack, giltedged, superfine, superexcellent, of the first water, first-rate, first-class, high- wrought, exquisite, very best, crack, prime, tiptop, capital, cardinal, standard, inimitable, admirable, estimable, praiseworthy, pleasing, couleur de rose, precious, of great price, costly, worth its weight in gold, worth a Jew's eye, priceless, invaluable, inestimable, precious as the apple of the eye, tolerable, up to the mark, unexceptionable, unobjectionable, satisfactory, tidy, in good condition, in fair condition, fresh, sound, beneficially, well, Jewels five words long, long may such goodness live!, the luxury of doing good.

N  semiliquidity, stickiness, viscidity, viscosity, gummosity, glutinosity, mucosity, spissitude, crassitude, lentor, adhesiveness, inspissation, incrassation, thickening, jelly, mucilage, gelatin, gluten, carlock, fish glue, ichthyocol, ichthycolla, isinglass, mucus, phlegm, goo, pituite, lava, glair, starch, gluten, albumen, milk, cream, protein, treacle, gum, size, glue (tenacity), wax, beeswax, emulsion, soup, squash, mud, slush, slime, ooze, moisture, marsh, semifluid, semiliquid, tremellose, half melted, half frozen, milky, muddy, lacteal, lactean, lacteous, lactescent, lactiferous, emulsive, curdled, thick, succulent, uliginous, gelatinous, albuminous, mucilaginous, glutinous, glutenous, gelatin, mastic, amylaceous, ropy, clammy, clotted, viscid, viscous, sticky, tacky, gooey, slab, slabby, lentous, pituitous, mucid, muculent, mucous, gummy.

N  oil, fat, butter, cream, grease, tallow, suet, lard, dripping exunge, blubber, glycerin, stearin, elaine, oleagine, soap, soft soap, wax, cerement, paraffin, spermaceti, adipocere, petroleum, mineral, mineral rock, mineral crystal, mineral oil, vegetable oil, colza oil, olive oil, salad oil, linseed oil, cottonseed oil, soybean oil, nut oil, animal oil, neat's foot oil, train oil, ointment, unguent, liniment, aceite, amole, Barbados tar, fusel oil, grain oil, rape oil, seneca oil, hydrate of amyl, ghee, heating oil, #2 oil, No, 2 oil, distillate, residual oils, kerosene, jet fuel, gasoline, naphtha, stearin.

bavarian cream, boston cream pie, chocolate ice cream, clotted cream, coconut cream, coffee cream, cold cream, cream cheese, cream laid, cream of tartar, cream of the crop, cream off, cream pitcher, cream puff, cream sauce, cream soda, cream violet, devonshire cream, double cream, egg cream, face cream, hand cream, heavy cream, heavy whipping cream, ice cream, light cream, light whipping cream, neapolitan ice cream, peach ice cream, salad cream, shaving cream, single cream, soft ice cream, sour cream, soured cream, strawberry ice cream, triple cream, vanilla ice cream, vanishing cream, whipped cream, whipping cream