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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.

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

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2026

However, it was not known that Mars also possessed the diverse, explosive volcanoes that form on Earth due to crustal recycling.

From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024

On Earth, volcanism is driven primarily by heat and crustal recycling associated with plate tectonics, but Mars lacks plate tectonics and the driver of volcanism is not well understood.

From Science Daily • Feb. 15, 2024

The majority of Ontario, Quebec, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories and Nunavut is made up of Archean crustal fragments that are dominated by TTGs and their slightly younger and more evolved granite counterparts.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2024

At first people called them "crustal blocks" or sometimes "paving stones."

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

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