Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com

continental crust

British  

noun

  1. geology that part of the earth's crust that underlies the continents and continental shelves

"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

continental crust Scientific  
/ kŏn′tə-nĕn′tl /
  1. See under crust


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:

Isotopic geochemistry suggests the molten material came from Archean continental crust dating between 3.0 and 3.3 billion years old.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 1, 2026

Their combined results point to a far livelier early Earth, suggesting that widespread subduction and the growth of continental crust may have begun several hundred million years earlier than earlier theories proposed.

From Science Daily ● Dec. 4, 2025

To test this, the team built computer simulations that recreated how the mantle and continental crust behave when stretched by tectonic forces.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 12, 2025

Ancient, expansive tracts of continental crust called cratons have helped keep Earth's continents stable for billions of years, even as landmasses shift, mountains rise and oceans form.

From Science Daily ● May 8, 2024

Maybe the Sea of Flames never existed at all, maybe curses aren’t real, maybe her father is right: Earth is all magma and continental crust and ocean.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training