outcrop
outcrop Lexical Profile
outcrop Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A visible exposure of bedrock, ancient superficial deposits, or mineral veins protruding through the overlying soil or vegetation on the Earth's surface.
"The geologists examined a jagged limestone outcrop along the ridge to determine the age of the valley."
A sudden, visible manifestation, emergence, or outgrowth of an underlying condition or phenomenon.
"The new community arts festival was a natural outcrop of the neighborhood's growing cultural revival."
• verb
To protrude through the soil and appear exposed at the Earth's surface (of a rock stratum or mineral vein).
"Thick seams of sandstone outcrop along the steep eastern slope of the canyon."
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Coined in the mid-18th century among Scottish and northern English coal miners, formed by combining 'out-' with the verb 'crop' in its dialectal sense of emerging or coming to the surface.