krʌst n. & v. --n. 1 a
the hard outer part of a loaf of
bread. b a
piece of
this with some soft bread attached. c a hard
dry scrap of bread. d
esp.
Austral. sl. a
livelihood (what do
you do
for a crust?). 2 the
pastry covering of a pie. 3 a hard
casing of a softer
thing, e.g. a harder
layer over soft
snow. 4 Geol. the outer
portion of the
earth. 5 a a
coating or
deposit on the
surface of
anything. b a hard dry
formation on the
skin, a
scab. 6 a deposit of
tartar formed in bottles of
old wine. 7 a sl. impudence (you
have a crust!). b a
superficial hardness of
manner. --v.tr. & intr. 1
cover or
become covered with a crust. 2
form into a crust. øøcrustal adj. (in
sense 4 of n.). [ME f. OF crouste f. L crusta
rind, shell]