❄️ A hard layer 🧱 Covered with crust

crusting

4.5

Covered by a hard dry outer layer

adjective
/ˈkrʌstɪŋ/

: encrustado

The paint on the wall is crusting due to exposure to moisture.

Examples

The old bread was crusting, making it difficult to chew.
Here we have a nice candy cane crusting with some nice lighting with the two big balls on top.
After baking, the pie develops a golden crusting that is delicious.

Synonyms

crusty

vscrusting

14 2.5

Having a hard, crisp outer layer like the top of bread

puts emphasis on dry hardness or the forming process not crispness

crusted

vscrusting

1 4.2

Covered with a hard layer on the surface

focuses more on dryness and formation rather than completed hardening

encrusted

vscrusting

1 5.8

Covered with a hard layer, often of dirt, shells, or jewels

emphasizes a dry outer layer or the process of forming it

crustlike

vscrusting

3.7

Having a hard outer layer like the top of bread or rock

asserts actual formation of a hardened dry outer layer

Antonyms

smooth

256 1.0

A surface that is even and not rough

bare

217 2.2

Not covered or protected, showing the plain surface

How Crusted

encrusted

1 5.8

crusted

1 4.2

crusting

4.5

crustless

1 3.0

Surface Forms

crusting positive

Morphology

crusting = crust (transparent) = crust + ing

This is a regular participial formation from 'crust', and the sense 'forming or covered with a crust' is directly compositional.

Etymology

Crusting comes from the simple word crust, which means 'hard outer layer', plus -ing that makes it mean 'forming' or 'covered with'. So crusting describes something that is becoming or covered with a hard dry layer, like the crust on bread or frozen ground.