encrust
Americanverb (used with object)
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to cover or line with a crust or hard coating.
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to form into a crust.
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to deposit as a crust.
verb (used without object)
verb
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(tr) to cover or overlay with or as with a crust or hard coating
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to form or cause to form a crust or hard coating
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(tr) to decorate lavishly, as with jewels
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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encrustsimple
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encrustssimple
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have encrustedperfect
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has encrustedperfect
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are encrustingprogressive
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am encrustingprogressive
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is encrustingprogressive
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have been encrustingperfect progressive
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has been encrustingperfect progressive
Past
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encrustedsimple
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had encrustedperfect
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was encrustingprogressive
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were encrustingprogressive
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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
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The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise
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Pictures of Hollis Wood
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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.
Encrust, en-krust′, Incrust, in-, v.t. to cover with a crust or hard coating: to form a crust on the surface of.—v.i. to form a crust.—n.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
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.
