n.

1. 1. The hard outer portion or surface area of bread.
   2. A piece of bread consisting mostly of the hard outer portion.
   3. A piece of bread that has become hard and dry.
2. A pastry shell, as of a pie or tart.
3. A hard crisp covering or surface: snow with a firm crust.
4. A hard deposit formed on the interior of a wine bottle as the wine matures.
5. Geology.
   1. The exterior portion of the earth that lies above the Mohorovičić discontinuity.
   2. The outermost solid layer of a planet or moon.
6. The hard outer covering or integument of certain plants and animals, such as lichens and crustaceans.
7. Pathology. An outer layer or coating formed by the drying of a bodily exudate such as pus or blood; a scab.
8. Informal. Insolence; audacity; gall.

v., crust·ed, crust·ing, crusts.

v.tr.

1. To cover with a crust.
2. To form into a crust.

v.intr.

1. To become covered with a crust.
2. To harden into a crust.

[Middle English cruste, from Old French crouste, from Latin crūsta.]

crustless crust'less adj.

The low-density outermost layer of the Earth above the Mohorovičić discontinuity (the Moho), a global boundary that is defined as the depth in the Earth where the compressional-wave seismic velocity increases rapidly or discontinuously to a value in excess of 4.7 mi/s (7.6 km/s; the upper mantle). The crust is also the cold, upper portion of the Earth's lithosphere, which in terms of plate tectonics is the mobile, outer layer that is underlain by the hot, convecting asthenosphere. See also Asthenosphere; Lithosphere; Moho (Mohorovičić discontinuity); Plate tectonics.

Continental crust

The Earth's continental crust has evolved over the past 4 billion years, and is highly variable in geologic composition and internal structure. The worldwide mean thickness of continental crust is 24 mi (40 km), with a standard deviation of 5.4 mi (9 km). The thinnest continental crust (found in the Afar Triangle, northeast Africa) is about 9 mi (15 km) thick, and the thickest crust (the Himalayan Mountains in China) is about 47 mi (75 km) thick. Ninety-five percent of all continental crust has a thickness within two standard deviations of the mean thickness, between 13 mi (22 km) and 37 mi (58 km). The Antarctic continent has a crustal thickness of 24 mi (40 km) in the ancient, stable (cratonic) region of East Antarctica, and about 12 mi (20 km) in the recently stretched (extended) crust of West Antarctica. Continental margins, which mark the transition from oceanic to continental crust, range in thickness from about 9 mi (15 km) to 18 mi (30 km). See also Continental margin.

Despite its geologic complexity, the continental crust may generally be divided into four layers: an uppermost sedimentary layer, and an upper, middle, and lower crust composed of crystalline rocks. The sedimentary cover of the continental crust is an important source of natural resources. This cover averages 0.6 mi (1 km) in thickness, and varies in thickness from zero (for example, on shields) to more than 9 mi (15 km) in deep basins. In stable continental crust of average thickness (25 mi or 40 km), the crystalline upper crust is commonly 6–9 mi (10–15 km) thick and has an average composition equivalent to a granite. The middle crust is 3–9 mi (5–15 km) thick and has a composition equivalent to a diorite; and the lower crust is 3–12 mi (5–20 km) thick and has a composition equivalent to a gabbro. Due to increasing temperature and pressure with depth, the metamorphic grade of rocks increases with depth, and the rocks within the deep continental crust generally are metamorphic rocks, even if they originated as sedimentary or igneous rocks. See also Diorite; Gabbro; Granite; Metamorphic rocks.

Crustal properties vary systematically with geologic setting, which may be divided into six groups: orogens (mountain belts), shields and platforms, island arcs (volcanic arcs), continental magmatic arcs, rifts, extended (stretched) crust, and forearcs. Orogens are typified by thick crust [average thickness is 29 mi (46 km), but the maximum thickness is as much as 47 mi (75 km) in the Himalayas]. Shields and platforms, such as the Canadian Shield and the Russian Platform, commonly have an approximately 26-mi-thick (42-km) crust, including a 3–6 mi-thick (5–10 km) lower crust. In comparison with shields, island arcs (such as Japan) have thinner crusts and significantly shallower middle and lower crustal layers due to the intrusion of mafic (that is, low silica content) plutons. Continental magmatic arcs, such as the Cascades volcanoes of the northwestern United States, intrude preexisting continental crust, and therefore they are generally 3–9 mi (10–15 km) thicker than island arcs. Continental rifts, such as the East African and Rio Grande rifts, have an average crustal thickness of about 22 mi (36 km). Extended continental crust, such as the Basin and Range Province of the western United States, averages 18 mi (30 km) in thickness. Forearcs are regions that were formed oceanward of volcanic arcs, such as much of the west coast of North America. They typically have thin crust, about 15 mi (25 km), and have a thick (9 mi or 15 km) upper crustal section that consists of relatively low-density metasedimentary rocks. See also North America; Oceanic islands; Pluton; Rift valley; Sedimentary rocks; Volcano.

At least three processes provide new continental crust. The first is the accretion and consolidation of island arcs, such as Japan or the Aleutian Islands, onto a continental margin. The second process is the tectonic underplating of oceanic crust at active subduction zones. In this process, the continental crust grows from below as oceanic crust is welded to the base of the continental margin, either when subduction stops or when subduction steps oceanward and a new trench is formed. This process has been identified in western Canada and southern Alaska. The third process is the magmatic inflation of the crust at continental arcs, rifts, and regions of crustal extension. This process has been identified in many regions. See also Geodynamics.

Oceanic crust

The surface of the ocean crust, except for some locally high volcanoes and plateaus, resides some 1–3 mi (2–5 km) below sea level, and about another kilometer below the average level of the continents. The ocean crust represents the youngest and geologically most dynamic portion of the Earth's surface. Most of it was produced at mid-ocean ridges during the process of sea-floor spreading. The ridges define the trailing edges, or accreting boundaries, of the major lithospheric plates that are moving about the surface of the Earth at present. Thus, the oldest rocks of the ocean crust date back no earlier than the rifting episodes that created most of these plates and initiated the most recent phase of continental drift, the Pangaean breakup, in Late Jurassic times. See also Jurassic; Mid-Oceanic Ridge.

There are fault slices of types of ocean crust on land, known as ophiolites, where nearly or entirely complete cross sections through the crust can be mapped and sampled. These strongly indicate that the ocean crust consists in downward sequence of submarine extrusives (usually pillow basalts), feeder dikes (often vertically sheeted), or sills, gabbros, and peridotites. There is much uncertainty, however, about the extent to which typical ophiolites, most of which formed in island-arc or backarc environments, can represent abyssal ocean crust, which is produced at the major accreting plate boundaries. Moreover, the physical correspondence of the rocks in ophiolites to ocean crust is often complicated by their complex structure and extent of alteration and metamorphism, particularly in the ultramafic sections.

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This multipurpose word has many meanings, including the hardened outer layer of a cooked food such as bread; a thin layer of pastry covering a pie, pâté, etc.; and the sediment of organic salts deposited in a bottle of aged red wine.

noun

The state or quality of being impudent or arrogantly self-confident: assumption, audaciousness, audacity, boldness, brashness, brazenness, cheek, cheekiness, chutzpah, discourtesy, disrespect, effrontery, face, familiarity, forwardness, gall, impertinence, impudence, impudency, incivility, insolence, nerve, nerviness, overconfidence, pertness, presumptuousness, pushiness, rudeness, sassiness, sauciness. Informal brass, sauce, uppishness, uppityness. See attitude/good attitude/bad attitude/neutral attitude, courtesy/discourtesy.

For more information on crust, visit Britannica.com.

Another name for the sediment thrown off by red wines as they age in bottles. The use of the term crust is generally associated with vintage port (see port).

In geology, the outermost layer of the Earth. It overlies the mantle.

The crust includes the continents and the ocean bottom and is generally estimated to be about five to twenty-five miles thick.

The crust is made from relatively lightweight rocks that floated to the surface when the Earth was molten early in its history.

• Genre: Comedy
• Movie Type: Sports Comedy, Animal Picture
• Themes: When Animals Attack, Underdogs, Boxers
• Director: Mark Locke
• Main Cast: Kevin McNally, Perry Fitzpatrick
• Release Year: 2003
• Country: UK
• Run Time: 86 minutes

Plot

The phrase "jumbo shrimp" gains a whole new meaning in this broad comedy from the United Kingdom. Bill (Kevin McNally) is a former boxer who, now in middle age, owns and operates a run-down bar and spends a bit too much time sampling his wares. One day, Bill's friend Hamid (Madhav Sharma), a self-styled entrepreneur with no shortage of get-rich-quick schemes, offers to cut him in on something remarkable -- while the Mantis Shrimp of the Philippines, an unusual breed with club-like stumps instead of claws, rarely grows over six inches in length, he's discovered a living specimen which is a whopping seven feet long. Hamid is certain there must be big money in exhibiting the massive crustacean, and Bill comes up with a remarkable plan -- teach the critter to box, and then have it take on all comers on a TV show! Crust was the first feature from writer/director Mark Locke. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Cast

• Kevin McNally - Bill
• Perry Fitzpatrick - Steve

Madhav Sharma - Hamid "Anything-U-Need" Choudhury
Bob Mason
Enzo Cilenti
Naomie Harris
Louise Mardenborough - Shaz
Ulrika Jonsson

Credit

Mark Locke - Director; Mark Locke - Screenwriter

Similar Movies

Gus; MVP: Most Valuable Primate; Ed; Air Bud

The outermost layer of a planet or moon, above the mantle.

IN BRIEF: The hardened outside surface of bread; the pastry cover of a pie.

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety. — Aesop, (620-560 BC), Greek writer, Aesop’s Fables: animal stories illustrating human challenges.

Tutor's tip: He crossed (past tense of cross) the kitchen to cut the pie crust (a pastry shell).

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

Dansk (Danish)
n. - skorpe, tørt brødstykke, job, frækhed, dejlåg, aflejring, sårskorpe, bundfald, hård facade
v. tr. - dække med skorpe, danne skorpe af
v. intr. - dækkes med skorpe

idioms:

• crust of the earth    jordskorpe

Nederlands (Dutch)
korst (brood/wond etc.), schaal van schaaldier, levensonderhoud, bovenlaag(je), wijnsteen, brutaliteit

Français (French)
n. - (lit, fig) croûte, croûte (de sang, de boue), dépôt (de vin, de cristaux de tartre), (US) culot
v. tr. - se couvrir d'une croûte
v. intr. - former une croûte, s'encroûter

idioms:

• crust of the earth    l'écorce terrestre

Deutsch (German)
n. - Kruste
v. - verkrusten, überkrusten, eine Kruste bilden

idioms:

• crust of the earth    Erdkruste

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - κρούστα, κόρα (ψωμιού κ.λπ.), φύλλο πίτας κ.λπ., επίστρωμα, επίπαγος, τσίπα, πέτσα, κέλυφος, καύκαλο, κακάδι πληγής, (γεωλ.) φλοιός (της γης κ.λπ.), θράσος

idioms:

• crust of the earth    φλοιός της γης

Italiano (Italian)
crosta

idioms:

• earth's crust    crosta terrestre

Português (Portuguese)
n. - crosta (f)

idioms:

• earth's crust    crosta (f) da terra (Geol.)
• upper crust    crosta (f) superior (Geol.)

Русский (Russian)
корка

idioms:

• earth's crust    земная кора
• upper crust    элита

Español (Spanish)
n. - corteza
v. tr. - encostrar, incrustar
v. intr. - encostrarse

idioms:

• crust of the earth    corteza terrestre

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - skorpa, sårskorpa, jordskorpa, skare, skal, avsättning, fräckhet (sl.)

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
外壳, 面包皮, 坚硬的外壳, 盖以硬皮, 结硬皮

idioms:

• crust of the earth    地壳

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 外殼, 面包皮, 堅硬的外殼
v. tr. - 蓋以硬皮
v. intr. - 結硬皮

idioms:

• crust of the earth    地殼

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 빵 껍질, 딱딱한 표면, 겉보기
v. tr. - 겉껍질로 덮다
v. intr. - 껍질이 생기다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - パンの皮, パイの皮, 堅い表面, 外皮
v. - 覆う

idioms:

• earth's crust    地殻

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) قشرة الخبز, القشرة الأرضيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮קרום, קליפה, שכבה קשה, שכבת הסלע החיצונה של כדור-הארץ‬
v. tr. - ‮הקרים‬
v. intr. - ‮הקרים, קרם‬

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