outcrop

American  

[out-krop, out-krop] / ˈaʊtˌkrɒp, ˌaʊtˈkrɒp /

noun

1. Geology.

   1. a cropping out, as of a stratum or vein at the surface of the earth.

   2. the exposed portion of such a stratum or vein.

2. something that emerges suddenly or violently in the manner of an outcrop; outbreak.

   an outcrop of student demonstrations.

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verb (used without object)

• outcrops,
  present (3rd person singular)
• outcropped,
  past participle,  past
• outcropping
  present participle

1. to crop out, as strata.

outcrop British  

noun

1. part of a rock formation or mineral vein that appears at the surface of the earth

2. an emergence; appearance

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verb

1. (of rock strata, mineral veins, etc) to protrude through the surface of the earth

2. another word for crop out

outcrop Scientific  

/ out′krŏp′ /

1. An area of visible bedrock that is not covered with soil.

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• outcropping
  present
• outcropped
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• outcrop
  simple
• outcrops
  simple
• have outcropped
  perfect
• has outcropped
  perfect
• am outcropping
  progressive
• are outcropping
  progressive
• is outcropping
  progressive
• have been outcropping
  perfect progressive
• has been outcropping
  perfect progressive

Past

• outcropped
  simple
• had outcropped
  perfect
• was outcropping
  progressive
• were outcropping
  progressive
• had been outcropping
  perfect progressive

Future

• will outcrop
  simple
• will have outcropped
  perfect
• will be outcropping
  progressive
• will have been outcropping
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of outcrop

First recorded in 1760–70; noun use of verb phrase crop out

Explanation

An outcrop is an area of land where the underlying rocks are exposed. You can see many rocky outcrops throughout Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. The term outcrop and the alternative outcropping come from the "head or sprout" meaning of crop, from the idea of seeing the "head" of the rock below. Most of the earth's land surface is covered with soil and plants, but in areas where erosion has worn these away, you can see outcrops of the bedrock beneath. These outcrops can be low, flat sheets of rock, or taller rocky expanses along the edges of mountain ridges.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

outcrop outcrops outcropped outcropping

A passenger from the hantavirus-stricken MV Hondius cruise ship is in quarantine on tiny Pitcairn Island, a volcanic outcrop in the South Pacific famously settled by mutineers from the HMS Bounty.

From Barron's ● May 15, 2026

During a visit in early 2025, they explored a small outcrop of rock formed in the early Cretaceous Period.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 24, 2026

Literally the answer must be no: Any stories they tell are scientific interpretations of minerals, fossils, isotopes and other features, whether from a geology laboratory or rock outcrop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026

An accompanying conservation plan would convey the 30-acre rocky outcrop that hosts the Quercus palmeri , or Palmer’s oak, to a Native tribe.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2024

They rounded an outcrop, moving on hands and feet—and stopped short.

From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell

A quick stroll upstream, a group of DJs unaffiliated with the family-friendly festival hosted a day party aimed at Gen Z and millennial attendees, perched on one of the channel’s outcrops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026

A particular pressure point is a cluster of uninhabited outcrops Japan calls Senkaku and China calls Diaoyu.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 31, 2026

Having driven up to Llyn Teifi in the Cambrian mountains, we stand on a bridge, surrounded by rocky outcrops and marshland.

From BBC ● Feb. 28, 2026

In 2019 and 2022, the group traveled to New Zealand's North Island to collect rocks from several outcrops near the Hikurangi Margin.

From Science Daily ● May 7, 2024

Where the high road twisted between two rocky outcrops, they came to the first strong point.

From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin

The Nanushuk Formation is an outcropped layer of sedimentary rock 800 to 5,000 feet thick across the central and western North Slope.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 12, 2024

It had manifested itself where a stratum of clean white sand, underlaid with clay, outcropped at the foot of a high bank.

From Flowing Gold by Beach, Rex Ellingwood

Forced to become an underwriter at Lloyd's he had regained prosperity before his artistic talent had outcropped.

From To Let by Galsworthy, John

Strange's notes were incomplete; and although Thirlwell calculated that he was about thirty miles from the spot where the ore outcropped, he had found none of the landmarks.

From The Lure of the North by Bindloss, Harold

Here and there the rough rock outcropped and was broken, no doubt, by the winds of that tempestuous sea or by the frosts.

From Hurricane Island by Watson, H. B. Marriott (Henry Brereton Marriott)

The Sunshine mine dates back to 1884, when two homesteading brothers spotted an outcropping and staked claim.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026

Let’s say you’re out on some rugged outcropping and you need to jump on your jackhammer for a few minutes.

From Slate ● Jul. 18, 2024

On that day 20 years ago, he was killed by friendly fire at a rocky outcropping in a place called Spera, Afghanistan.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 22, 2024

It is a six-acre, dome-shaped outcropping that is tricky to reach and even trickier to explore.

From New York Times ● Dec. 24, 2023

And there was a rocky outcropping with a particularly fine view.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill

Related Words

• offshoot