Jastrow: חֶרֶס I

חֶרֶס I m. (b. h. חֶרֶשׂ; חרס to be rough; to scrape) 1) common earthware. כלי ח׳ earthen vessel. Kel. III, 1 (ed. Dehr. חרש); a. v. fr.—Ib. 4 היה בה ח׳ if there remained of it a (sound) piece large enough to contain &c.—Tanḥ. Sh’laḥ. 1 (ref. to חֶרֶשׁ, Josh. II, 1) קרי ביה ח׳ read it ḥeres (with earthware, in the disguise of potters); Num. R. s. 16, beg. חרשׂ; a. fr.—Esp. (v. חַסְפָּא) potsherd. Y. Ned. I, 37ᵃ top; Y. Naz. I, beg. 51ᵃ והתני … לא חספא did not Bar K. say, ḥeres is a substitute for ḥerem (חֵרֶם)? now, does not this mean a sherd (which has no reference to anything forbidden either as sacred or as doomed to destruction)?; v. next w.—Pl. חֲרָסִים, חֲרָסִין. Kel. III, 4. Ib. IX, 5 (Ar. חֲרָשִׂין); a. e.—Ḥag. 13ᵇ (expl. בזק, Ez. I, 14) כאור … מבין הח׳ like the flames from between the perforated earthen pieces (used in smelting gold).