encrust
Americanverb (used with object)
-
encrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encrusted,
past participle, past
-
encrusting
present participle
-
to cover or line with a crust or hard coating.
-
to form into a crust.
-
to deposit as a crust.
verb (used without object)
-
encrusts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
encrusted,
past participle, past
-
encrusting
present participle
verb
-
(tr) to cover or overlay with or as with a crust or hard coating
-
to form or cause to form a crust or hard coating
-
(tr) to decorate lavishly, as with jewels
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
encrustsimple
-
encrustssimple
-
have encrustedperfect
-
has encrustedperfect
-
am encrustingprogressive
-
are encrustingprogressive
-
is encrustingprogressive
-
have been encrustingperfect progressive
-
has been encrustingperfect progressive
Past
-
encrustedsimple
-
had encrustedperfect
-
was encrustingprogressive
-
were encrustingprogressive
-
had been encrustingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of encrust
First recorded in 1635–45 for incrust and 1710–20 for encrust; from Old French encrouster, incrouster, from Latin incrustāre “to cover with a layer, rind, or crust; daub”; see origin at en- 1, crust
Explanation
When you encrust something, you coat it with a layer of some other material. You might encrust your homemade cheesecake bites in crushed cookie crumbs, for example. There are many ways to encrust various kinds of food, as when you encrust fish or chicken in breadcrumbs before baking it. A jeweler might encrust a ring in tiny diamonds, and the ocean's tide can encrust a dock with tiny snails or barnacles. The Latin root of encrust is incrustare, which, fittingly, means "to cover with crust."
Vocabulary lists containing encrust
"Be Prepared" by Vera Brosgol
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Pictures of Hollis Wood
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
McCrady’s, Langhorne recalls, might prepare a local fish but encrust it with lichens that he foraged.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 11, 2023
Guests complain about their servants, encrust their manicures and teeth with diamonds and feed each other gold-flaked chocolate truffles.
From New York Times ● Jul. 19, 2022
The nodules form on deep abyssal plains where sedimentation rates are low, allowing metal compounds dissolved in seawater to encrust a nucleus, like a shark tooth or a rock, over millions of years.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 14, 2019
With time, corals, sponges and other marine life encrust the concrete, and it becomes indistinguishable from the natural reefs.
From Slate ● Aug. 5, 2016
But in sober unpoetical truth the sea-salt never gets much further than the seaman’s skin, which in certain latitudes it takes the opportunity to encrust very thoroughly.
From Notes on Life and Letters by Joseph Conrad
A black sponge that encrusts tidal pool rocks in southern Japan, Halichondria okadai, produced a drug, now marketed as Halaven, to treat late-stage breast cancer.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 27, 2022
Moss encrusts the walls, rainwater drips down rusted steel beams, flimsy lights glow yellow in dark interiors.
From New York Times ● Dec. 13, 2014
Unlike the atmospheric junk, which simply encrusts the surface, mercury seeps into microscopic flaws in the cylinders’ surfaces created by the polishing process.
From Economist ● Jan. 10, 2013
Then, selecting the grains one by one, it encrusts them all around itself in the fabric of the bag and cements them with the fluid from its spinnerets, which hardens at once.
From More Hunting Wasps by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos
Angioridium sinuosum, Grev., will run over growing plants of different kinds, and Spumaria, in like manner, encrusts living grasses.
From Fungi: Their Nature and Uses by M. C. (Mordecai Cubitt) Cooke
The US president has received a luxury jumbo jet, an engraved gold bar, a diamond-and-jewel encrusted gold ring, and more.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
As a college senior, Bias bought an ankle-length fur coat, a Nissan 380ZX sports car and a gold bracelet encrusted with diamonds spelling his first name, the Washington Post reported.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
Some versions were encrusted with jewels in paisley patterns, taking on an antique feel, others were clear and hot pink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2025
They show the prow of a wooden ship, encrusted with marine life, a few bronze cannons scattered across the sand, and blue-and-white porcelain and gold coins shining on the ocean floor.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2024
The friends are both wearing riding boots encrusted up to the calf with desert sand from a recent outing on horseback.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
“The You You Are” is self-help hackery rife with fool’s gold like, “A society with festering workers cannot flourish, just as a man with rotting toes cannot skip” encrusting bumper sticker calls for rebellion.
From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2025
Agricultural irrigation and power plant operations could also be significantly impeded, and if past mussel infestations are any indication, golden mussels could also severely affect boating and recreation by encrusting docks, engines and steering equipment.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2024
During the trial, it was heard security guard Hettiarachchi had spotted Mr Odunlami wearing a fake Patek Philippe Nautilus watch with diamond encrusting which, if real, would be worth about £125,000.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2024
It sure didn’t look like there were diamonds encrusting her shoes.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 31, 2022
After this escape, I was content to take a foggy view of the Inn through the window’s encrusting dirt, and to stand dolefully looking out, saying to myself that London was decidedly overrated.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
