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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.

The team analyzed data from seismic monitoring stations around the world and factored in information such as crustal thickness.

From Science Daily • Feb. 20, 2026

Over the past decade, growing evidence has convinced many researchers that rare earthquakes do originate in the mantle, though they may occur about 100 times less frequently than 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

They focused on crustal delamination, a process in which sections of Earth's crust become compressed, chemically altered, and dense enough to detach and sink into the mantle below.

From Science Daily • Jan. 23, 2026

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