crud

/krəd/

/krəd/

Other forms: cruds

If you get some gross, unidentifiable substance on the bottom of your shoe, you can call it crud. Basically, crud is anything that's grimy or dirty, especially if you're not sure exactly what it is.

Other ways to say crud include gunk, slop, or muck. Your mom might complain that your room is full of crud, or you might spend a summer afternoon washing crud off your car. Either way, it's generally dirty stuff, bordering on the disgusting. In the 1940's, crud was popular slang that meant "nonsense or rubbish." Earlier, it was Army slang for "venereal disease," or sexually transmitted disease.

Definitions of crud

1. noun

   any substance considered disgustingly foul or unpleasant
   synonyms: filth, skank

   type of:

   waste, waste material, waste matter, waste product

   any materials unused and rejected as worthless or unwanted
2. interjection

   used to express annoyance, disgust, or frustration
3. noun

   an ill-defined bodily ailment
   “he said he had the crud and needed a doctor”

   type of:

   disease

   an impairment of health or a condition of abnormal functioning
4. noun

   heavy wet snow that is unsuitable for skiing
   type of:

   snow

   a layer of snowflakes (white crystals of frozen water) covering the ground