crustn.
/krʌst/, U.S. /krəst/ 1.
a. The outer part of bread rendered hard and dry in baking. Opposed to crumb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > loaf > [noun] > crust of loaf
crusta1330
heelc1390
kissing-crust1708
undercrust1738
a1330 Otuel 954 Anawe of Nubie he smot, That neuere eft crouste he ne bot.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. lix. 273 Paaste in an ouen..receyueth a maner croustyng in the vtter syde vnder the whiche crouste the paaste is nesshe.
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 53 Saue þe sydys and al þe cruste hole with-owte.
1583 C. Hollyband Campo di Fior 191 Make cleane his bread, If there be either ashes or coles in the cruste.
1620 T. Venner Via Recta i. 22 The like may be said of the crust of bread.
1825 W. Scott 2 Jan. in J. G. Lockhart Mem. Life Scott When we do get bread to eat, we complain that the crust is hard.
1871 When I was a little Girl (ed. 2) 25 You know there can't be crust without crumb.
b. (with a and plural) The hard outer part of a loaf or roll of bread; a portion of this external part such as belongs to a single slice of bread.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > piece of bread > [noun] > crust of slice
crustc1325
bread crusta1556
c1325 in Pol. Songs (Camden) 204 A rowȝ bare trenchur, other a crust: The begger that the crust ssal hab.
c1450 Two Cookery-bks. 113 Nym crostes of whyt bred.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 16 A crust of brede þou bray with alle.
1597 W. Shakespeare Richard III ii. iv. 28 My Vnckle grew so fast, That he could gnaw a crust at two houres olde. View more context for this quotation
1692 R. L'Estrange Fables ccci. 263 Men will do Tricks like Dogs, for Crusts.
1871 When I was a little Girl (ed. 2) 24 I had a piece of bread and butter for my luncheon every morning, and the crust of it was often a serious incumbrance to me..Bread-crusts are not nice things.
c. By extension: A scrap of bread which is mainly crust or is hard and dry: often applied slightingly to what is much more than crust.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > bread > piece of bread > [noun] > piece of hard bread
crust1561
1561 T. Norton tr. J. Calvin Inst. Christian Relig. Pref. Some..doe plenteously glut themselves, and other some live with gnawing of poore crusts.
1592 W. Warner Albions Eng. (rev. ed.) vii. xxxvii. 165 My hap was harder than to owne in that distresse a Crust.
1697 W. Dampier New Voy. around World xi. 313 Sauce..which makes it eat very savory; much better than a crust of Bread alone.
1821 J. Clare Village Minstrel I. 66 Parents..Who in distress broke their last crust in twain..that I might be fed.
1837 E. Bulwer-Lytton Ernest Maltravers I. i. i. 12 Bring me a cup of beer, and crust of bread.
1886 H. F. Lester Under Two Fig Trees 42 To have a ‘crust’ as she calls it, or in reality a good deal of cheese and bread and beer.
d. figurative.
ΚΠ
1593 Tell-Trothes New-yeares Gift (1876) 12 Such crustes of small comfort.
1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones IV. xi. i. 87 A Crust for the Critics. View more context for this quotation
e. A livelihood, a living. Australian and New Zealand slang.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > [noun] > regular occupation, trade, or profession > livelihood
lifeOE
foodOE
livelihoodc1300
livingc1330
ploughc1390
purchasec1475
daily bread1526
being1570
governing1572
shift1572
supportation1576
thrift1579
livelihead1590
thrive1592
breadwinnera1614
subsistence1644
gain1655
bread and butter1691
through-bearing1705
bread1719
bread ticket1801
daily1817
lifehood1823
rice bowl1853
crust1916
1916 C. J. Dennis Songs Sentimental Bloke (new ed.) 120 Crust, sustenance; a livelihood.
1944 G. McCarthy in Coast to Coast 149 He's still there..Makin' a crust too.
1949 E. de Mauny Huntsman in Career ii. 128 ‘What do you do for a crust?’ ‘I work on a newspaper.’
1969 Coast to Coast 1967–8 100 You'd have to work pretty hard for that, I'd reckon, and your old man too. What does he do for a crust?
2. The paste forming the covering of a pie.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pastry > [noun] > pastry crust or case
coffinc1420
rollera1475
pasty crust1562
custard coffin1581
piecrust1582
crust1598
kissing-crust1708
dripping crust1747
short crust1747
standing crust1747
huff1787
croustade1845
turban1846
1598 tr. G. de Rosselli Epulario B iv b Make a crust of thicke past like a Pie crust.
1712 J. Addison Spectator No. 482. ¶4 Learning how to Season it [sc. a buck], or put it in Crust.
1771 O. Goldsmith Haunch of Venison 54 A pasty; it shall, and it must, And my wife, little Kitty, is famous for crust.
3. A hard dry formation on the surface of the body, caused by a burn, an ulcer, or disease of the skin; a scab or eschar.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > [noun] > wound > scab
crust1398
roinc1400
scabc1400
scurfc1440
rovea1500
rig-ruff1611
incrustation1656
scud1825
crusta1842
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (1495) vii. xvii. 235 A crouste of blood.
c1400 Lanfranc's Cirurg. 70 We moten brenne þe heed of þe veyne..wiþ hoot iren & þilke hoot iren myȝte make an hard cruste.
1543 B. Traheron Interpr. Straunge Wordes in tr. J. de Vigo Most Excellent Wks. Chirurg. sig. ζζ.vv/2 Eschara is the hardnes, or cruste yt remayneth after the burnynge of a wounde, or vlcer.
1604 W. Shakespeare Hamlet i. v. 72 A most instant tetter barckt..with vile and lothsome crust All my smooth body. View more context for this quotation
1877 L. A. Duhring Pract. Treat. Dis. Skin 47 Crusts are effete masses of dried material composed of the products of disease of the skin.
4. †(a) The upper or surface layer of the ground (obsolete) ( having passed into next); (b) (Geology) the outer portion of the earth; that part of the body of the earth accessible to investigation.Used first in accordance with the notion that the interior of the earth was an ‘abyss’ of waters, subsequently in reference to the theory of an interior in a state of fusion.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > land > ground > [noun]
ground971
earthOE
fleta1000
foldOE
landOE
floor?a1400
soila1400
margin?a1425
yird1433
sulye1434
swardc1440
leaa1475
paithmentc1480
visagea1500
crust1555
mother earth1568
solum1829
carpet1918
deck1925
dutty1925
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > [noun] > crust
crust1555
sole1610
shella1704
earth-rind1827
subshell1906
1555 R. Eden tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 234 An other kynde of Rubies..found in the mountaynes in the vpper crust or floure of the earth.
1612 J. Speed Theatre of Empire of Great Brit. i. xxxv. 67/1 In the very crust of the ground, without any deepe digging.
1666 R. Boyle in Philos. Trans. 1665–6 (Royal Soc.) 1 185 The elevation of steams from the Crust or Superficial parts of the Earth.
1747 Gentleman's Mag. Sept. 433/2 The whole earth, in the opinion of some philosophers, is but a kind of bridge, or crust to the great body of waters included in it.
1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. iii. iv. 294 The rocks and stones which compose the external crust of the globe.
5.
a. A more or less hard coating, concretion, or deposit on the surface of anything; an incrustation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > [noun] > a coat or covering layer > a crust or incrustation
rove1510
crust?1529
scurfa1555
scruff1591
bark1601
crustiness1608
overcrusting1670
incrustation1671
illinition1794
encrustment1845
?1529 R. Hyrde tr. J. L. Vives Instr. Christen Woman i. ix. sig. I Excepte thou wylt neuer washe out that cruste, but go so with a crust of peyntyng to bed.
1619 E. M. Bolton tr. Florus Rom. Hist. iii. iv. 264 While they ride vpon the false crusts of yce breaking vnder.
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 138 Precious Stones are covered over with a homely Crust . View more context for this quotation
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 58 a Lay..over all a Crust made of Sand, Mortar, and Ashes.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters i. 146 It looked more like a saline crust.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) III. xxi. 179 The water..[was] covered with a thin crust of ice.
1869 J. Phillips Vesuvius iv. 121 The crust formed over the lava.
b. crust of wine n. see quot. 1863.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > drink > manufacture of alcoholic drink > wine-making > [noun] > deposits
argolc1386
tartarc1386
upon the lee1390
wine-leesc1400
wine-stone1526
fechia1704
white friars1745
beeswing1860
crust of wine1863
wine-crust1872
flor1873
wine ball-
1863 T. G. Shaw Wine, etc. iv. 145 In every wine..a portion of the vegetable and other matters which constitute its ‘distinctiveness’ must inevitably be precipitated to the bottom of the vessel; this is called lees in the cask, and crust or deposit in the bottle.
c. Originally U.S. The hardened surface of snow suitable for crust-hunting.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > weather and the atmosphere > weather > precipitation or atmospheric moisture > snow > [noun] > a fall of snow > hardened surface of snow
crust1809
marble1924
windcrust1936
1809 A. Henry Trav. & Adventures Canada 146 The crust upon the snow cutting his legs..to the very bone.
1860 [implied in: P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 207 Deer are taken extensively by a process called ‘crusting’; that is, pursuing them, after a night's rain followed by frost has formed a crusty ice upon the surface of the deep snow. (at crusting n. 2)].
1876 Forest & Stream VI. 18/1 We had waited for a ‘crust’ through days of rain, thaw, and fog.
1890 N. Hibbs in Big Game N. Amer. 27 The Moose would come when the crust formed on the snow in the mountains.
1966 T. Armstrong et al. Illustr. Gloss. Snow & Ice 13 Crust, a hard snow surface upon a softer layer.
6. The hard external covering of an animal or plant; a shell, test, husk, etc.; spec. the hard chitinous integument or ‘shell’ of Crustaceans.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > animal body > general parts > covering or skin > [noun] > hard or protective covering
armoura1398
crust1615
armature1653
mail1713
shell1774
buckler1828
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > seed-vessel or pericarp > [noun]
knop1398
seed vessel1562
pouch1577
bottle1609
uterus1682
pericarpium1691
vessel1691
pericarp1759
crust1776
the world > animals > invertebrates > phylum Arthropoda > class Crustacea > [noun] > member of > parts of > integument
crust1822
lorica1856
1615 H. Crooke Μικροκοσμογραϕια 121 This Crust is spongie, hauing smal holes..that by these hollowe passages..the thinner part of the Chylus might pierce.
1653 I. Walton Compl. Angler 101 This Caterpiller gives over to eat, and..comes to be coverd over with a strange shell or crust . View more context for this quotation
1776 W. Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 322 There is a sort of leathery crust over the seed.
1822 J. M. Good Study Med. IV. 599 [The skin] was shed annually like the crust of a lobster.
7. figurative.
a. Something figured as an outer covering or shell diffcult to penetrate, or merely superficial.
ΚΠ
1651–3 Bp. J. Taylor Serm. for Year (1678) 369 A universal crust of Hypocrisie that covers the face of the greatest part of Mankind.
1656 R. Vines Treat. Lords-supper (1677) 320 He may be overgrown with a crust, a coldness.
1852 F. W. Robertson Two Lect. Working Classes i. 11 Break through the crust of his selfishness.
b. Impudence, effrontery. slang.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > pride > impudence > [noun]
hardiessec1300
boldness1377
malapertness?a1439
over-boldnessc1450
insolencya1513
protervitya1527
impudency1529
sauce malapert1529
petulancy1537
procacitya1538
audacity1545
sauceliness1552
forehead1564
hardihead1579
hardihood1594
outfacing1598
audaciousness1599
impudentness1599
petulancea1600
impertinency1609
impertinence1612
impudencea1616
procacya1620
affrontedness1640
brow1642
front1653
insolence1668
affrontery1679
assurance1699
effrontery1715
affrontiveness1721
swagger1725
imperence1765
cheek1823
sassiness1834
cheekiness1838
pawk1855
gall1882
chutzpah1886
face1890
mouth1891
crust1900
rind1901
smarting1902
hide1916
brass neck1937
1900 Dial. Notes 2 31 Crust, forwardness.
1923 P. G. Wodehouse Inimitable Jeeves xiv The blighter had the cold, cynical crust to look me in the eyeball without a blink.
1927 P. G. Wodehouse Small Bachelor xviii. 243 When a woman has the crust to disparage the morals of one of the finest young fellows who ever came out of the golden West.
1954 P. G. Wodehouse Jeeves & Feudal Spirit xi. 97 Actually having the crust to come barging in here!
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > wood > wood in specific form > [noun] > board or plank > types of
quarter-board1355
deal1400
fir-deala1450
planchettec1450
crust1486
deal-board1568
slab1573
scabbard1635
scale1683
scale-board1711
planchet1730
shinbin1791
rack deal1808
rack1835
shinlog1842
slabwood1844
1486 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 255 iij. crustes..to ley on þe same Brigge vnder þe gravell.
1563 Louth Churchwardens' Accts. III. 28 in E. Peacock Gloss. Words Manley & Corringham, Lincs. For a crust of a plank to a brigge.
1569 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1889) IV. 136 For a kruste and a planke.
9. Angling. The surface film of water. ? Obsolete.
ΚΠ
1620 W. Lawson in J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (new ed.) sig. C5v This Flye..moued in the crust of the water, is dead-lye in an euening.
1620 W. Lawson in J. Dennys Secrets of Angling (new ed.) sig. C5 If the wind be rough, and trouble the crust of the Water.
10. Leather Manufacturing. The state of sheep or goat skins when merely tanned and left rough preparatory to being dyed or coloured.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > derived or manufactured material > leather > [noun] > leather from sheep or goat skin > undyed
crust1686
1686 London Gaz. No 2125/4 About 350 of the best Kids, some ready pared, and some in the Crust not staked.
1882 Worcs. Exhib. Catal. iii. 50 Crust and coloured skivers.
11. The outer part or ‘wall’ of a horse's hoof.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > mammals > group Ungulata (hoofed) > family Equidae (general equines) > body or parts of horse > [noun] > hoof > covering of
wall1830
bar1831
crust1831
1831 W. Youatt Horse xv. 280 The crust, or wall, is that portion which is seen when the foot is placed on the ground.
ΚΠ
1594 Merry Knack in W. C. Hazlitt Dodsley's Sel. Coll. Old Eng. Plays (1874) VI. 539 What an old crust it is!.. I think the villain hath a face hardened with steel.
a1634 J. Day Peregrinatio Scholastica (Sloane 3150) f. 6 An old crust, wth a back bent like a bowe, wth Carieing tables.
Compounds
C1.
a. General attributive.
crust-hardened adj.
ΚΠ
1884 Sat. Rev. 7 June 741/1 Old crust-hardened politicians.
crust-like adj.
b. † crust-clung adj. Obsolete (see quot.). † crust-roll n. Obsolete a kind of thin crusted pancake.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the earth > structure of the earth > constituent materials > earth or soil > soil qualities > [adjective] > lumpy
clotty?1523
cloddy1545
clottery1567
surly1609
crust-clung1610
glebous1671
soil-bound1688
1610 W. Folkingham Feudigraphia i. x. 24 Crust-clung and Soale-bound soyles.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 333/2 Crust Clung, or Soil Bound, is an hard sticking together of the Earth, that nothing will grow on it.
crust-lizard n. book-name of Heloderma horridum.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > pancake, tortilla, or oatcake > [noun] > pancake
froise1338
pancakea1400
flawnc1400
crust-rollc1430
pancake wisea1500
flapjack1620
torteau1625
egg-fraise1693
wafer pancake1769
flamm1819
blini1842
leather-jacket1846
round robin1847
Pfannkuchen1856
palacinka1884
blintz1903
latke1909
crêpe Suzette1922
Dutch baby1927
spring roll1927
Palatschinken1929
egg roll1938
tostada1945
crêpe1951
ploye1959
palacsinta1964
pancake roll1967
appam1972
popiah1975
uthappam1976
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 46 Cruste Rolle.—Take..Flowre of whete; nym Eyroun and breke þer-to..rolle it on a borde also þinne as parchement..frye hem, and serue forth.
C2. spec. in Geology (see 4(b)).
crust-block n.
ΚΠ
1929 Encycl. Brit. II. 980/2 According to current views of the mechanics of mountain-folding, a crust-block of old and hard rocks is always present, which receives the pressure of the thrust causing the folding.
1934 Nature 15 Dec. 940/2 In one crust-block (west of the volcano), the tilting occurred in the same direction as before.
crust-creep n.
ΚΠ
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Oct. 461 Gigantic crust-creep of overthrust masses.
crust-fold n.
ΚΠ
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Jan. 48 The great Rocky Mountain-Andes fold,..the longest and most continuous crust-fold of the present day.
crust-fracture n.
ΚΠ
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Oct. 460 Old crust-forms and crust-fractures, especially such as allow occasional intrusion and outlet of volcanic material, are determining factors in the distribution of the subsequent deposits.
crust-lag n.
ΚΠ
1926 Chambers's Jrnl. 598/2 I would..hazard also the suggestion that crust-lag may be a potent factor, in conjunction with shrinkage of the earth's crust, in the causation of earth-tremors and earthquakes.
crust-movement n.
ΚΠ
1897 Geogr. Jrnl. June 669 There are two primary and permanent kinds of crust-movements.
1907 19th Cent. Aug. 220 The remarkable crust-movements exhibited over a wide area.
crust-strain n.
ΚΠ
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Oct. 457 The original cause of crust-strains.
crust-stress n.
ΚΠ
1903 Trans. Edinb. Geol. Soc. 8 177 The form of the sill-complex was capable of being re-moulded periodically in harmony with the localised crust-stresses.
crust-torsion n.
ΚΠ
1900 Geogr. Jrnl. Oct. 457 That phenomena of crust-torsion were induced by any combination of crust-pressures.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
crustv.
/krʌst/, U.S. /krəst/ 1.
a. transitive. To cover as with a crust, to encrust.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > coat or cover with a layer [verb (transitive)] > encrust
barken1513
crust1545
impaste1548
incrustate1570
befur1581
scurf1599
overcrust1603
cake1609
imbake1632
bark1633
encrusta1691
becrust1830
accrust1842
overscurf1881
1545 R. Ascham Toxophilus ii. f. 37v Snowe..whyche was harde and crusted by reason of the frost.
1570 P. Levens Manipulus Vocabulorum sig. Qiv/2 To Cruste, crustare.
1614 W. B. tr. Philosophers Banquet (ed. 2) iii. i. 162 The meates become crusted and baked.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Timon of Athens (1623) iii. vii. 98 Of Man and Beast, the infinite Maladie Crust you quite o're. View more context for this quotation
1832 W. Macgillivray Trav. & Researches A. von Humboldt ii. 34 Rocks..scantily crusted with lichens.
1892 Illustr. Mag. Sept. 879 North winds begin to crust over the pools and streams with ice.
b. figurative.
ΚΠ
c1616 G. Chapman tr. Homer Batrachomyomachia Ep. Ded. (R.) Being crusted with their couetous leprosies.
1767 S. Johnson Let. 19 Aug. (1992) I. 286 Ill health..has crusted me into inactivity.
1883 J. A. Froude Short Stud. IV. ii. vi. 250 The truth had been crusted over with fictions.
2. intransitive. To form or contract a crust; to become covered with a crust or hardened surface. Also figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > coating or covering with a layer > become coated with a layer [verb (intransitive)] > form or contract a crust
crustc1430
encrust1726
barken1815
shale1844
c1430 Two Cookery-bks. 32 Stere it faste þat it crouste noȝt.
a1657 G. Daniel Trinarchodia: Henry IV ccclxxvii, in Poems (1878) IV. 95 Aged Tyrrannie whose Oyle Crusts in the Lampe.
1762 A. Dickson Treat. Agric. iv. iv. 412 The soil..will only crust a little above.
1814 Temple Wks. III. 268 The place that was burnt..crusted and healed in very few days.
1820 W. Hazlitt Lect. Dramatic Lit. 26 The tide of fancy and enthusiasm..settles and crusts into the standing pool of dulness, criticism, and vertù.
3. transitive. To form into a crust; to make hard like a crust.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > constitution of matter > hardness > make hard [verb (transitive)] > like a crust
crust1671
1671 J. Narborough Jrnl. in Acct. Several Late Voy. (1711) i. 182 The main Body of Ice that lyeth crusted about the Shore.
1857 W. Collins Dead Secret II. v. v. 153 The dirt of half a century, crusted on the glass.
4. U.S. and Canadian. To hunt (deer, etc.) on the crust of snow; to crust-hunt.
ΚΠ
1860 [implied in: P. H. Gosse Romance Nat. Hist. 207 Deer are taken extensively by a process called ‘crusting’; that is, pursuing them, after a night's rain followed by frost has formed a crusty ice upon the surface of the deep snow. (at crusting n. 2)].
1888 Forest & Stream XXX. 46/3 The guides and hunters..going over the border..on the deep snows, and crusting deer and moose.
1888 Forest & Stream XXX. 165/1 A good deal of crusting deer is being done..this winter.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1893; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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