crustal

American

[kruhs-tl] / ˈkrʌs tl /

adjective

of or relating to a crust, as of the earth.

crustal British

/ ˈkrʌstəl /

adjective

of or relating to the earth's crust

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of crustal

1855–60; < Latin crūst ( a ) shell, crust + -al ¹

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

crustal

On Earth, plate tectonics plays a major role in volcanism, recycling crustal material and helping build continents.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 4, 2026

"Mantle earthquakes offer a novel way to explore earthquake origins and the internal structure of Earth beyond ordinary crustal earthquakes."

From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2026

Some may occur as aftershocks caused by seismic waves traveling outward from crustal earthquakes.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 20, 2026

Researchers used computer simulations inspired by a geological process on Earth called crustal delamination.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 23, 2026

If you had been looking for a very long, geologic time, you could have seen the continents them- selves in motion, drifting apart on their crustal plates, held afloat by the fire beneath.

From "The Lives of a Cell" by Lewis Thomas

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023