Emily Dickinson Lexicon

CORS'NED, n. [Sax. corsnæde, comp. of corse, curse, and snæd, a mouthful, piece or bit. It is called also ned-bread, need-bread, bread of necessity.]

The morsel of execration, or curse; a piece of bread consecrated by exorcism, and to be swallowed by a suspected person, as a trial of his innocence. If guilty, it was supposed that the bread would produce convulsions and paleness, and find no passage. If innocent, it was believed it would turn to nourishment. – Blackstone.