outcrop

American  

[aut-krop, aut-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

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Etymology

Origin of outcrop

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

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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

Taiwanese soldiers manning Dadan Island, a rocky outcrop mere kilometres from China's coast, begin vanishing mysteriously.

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2025

The eagle landed on an outcrop of rock and screamed in triumph.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

Rattlesnakes like to hide in complex rocky outcrops, tall grass and squirrel burrows.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 1, 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

"Elsewhere on Mars, rocks like these are probably some of the most important outcrops we've seen from orbit because they are just so hard to form," Horgan said.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 27, 2026

Nationalist sentiment is also growing in the Philippines, as its dispute with China over reefs and outcrops in the South China Sea continue to fester.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2024

Goodness knows what outcrops Messrs. Caster and Mendes had looked at, because in fact many of the rock formations on both sides of the Atlantic are the same–not just very similar but the same.

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

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

At times they were entirely hidden by the luxuriant growths, and at times they came out on little bald spots where rock outcropped to the exclusion of vegetation.

From The Call of the Beaver Patrol or, A Break in the Glacier by V. T. Sherman

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

From To Let by John Galsworthy

Where rock outcropped and in the sands of bright rapid streams we looked for signs of that gold, so stressed as though it were the only salvation!

From 1492 by Mary Johnston

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 Harold Bindloss

The traditional three-pointed-star hood ornament is reduced to a mere outcropping in a sea of monograms.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 2, 2026

Her subsequent eviction from the Beguines leads to her accepting the Bishop’s offer of sanctuary—as an anchorite, destined to live out her days in a tiny stone outcropping.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 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

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

On the far edge was an outcropping of rocks, high above a creek, where a man in a top hat tended a fire.

From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney

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