crust

/krəst/

/krəst/

Other forms: crusts; crusted; crusting

The crust is a hard layer that forms on the outside of something, like a loaf of bread. Little kids often like their sandwiches with the crust cut off.

You’ve probably eaten lots of crusts — bread crust, pie crust — any food that’s hard on the outside and soft on the inside has a crust. Crust is also a verb meaning “to form a hard outer layer.” Crusting happens with more than just food, like when a layer of dirt crusts your clothes after a romp in the mud. The Earth has a hard crust too. Little kids don’t like to eat that either, usually.

Definitions of crust

1. noun

   a hard outer layer that covers something
   synonyms: encrustation, incrustation

   types:

   calculus, tartar, tophus

   an incrustation that forms on the teeth and gums

   type of:

   cover, covering, natural covering

   a natural object that covers or envelops
2. noun

   the outer layer of the Earth
   synonyms: Earth's crust

   types:

   horst

   a ridge of the earth's crust that has been forced upward between two faults and so is higher than the surrounding land

   crustal plate, plate

   a rigid layer of the Earth's crust that is believed to drift slowly

   type of:

   layer

   a relatively thin sheetlike expanse or region lying over or under another
3. verb

   form a crust or form into a crust
   “The bread crusted in the oven”

   type of:

   change surface

   undergo or cause to undergo a change in the surface
4. noun

   the trait of being rude and impertinent; inclined to take liberties
   synonyms: cheekiness, freshness, gall, impertinence, impudence, insolence

   types:

   chutzpa, chutzpah, hutzpah

   (Yiddish) unbelievable gall; insolence; audacity

   type of:

   discourtesy, rudeness

   a manner that is rude and insulting