crust

Everyday

1. The hard outer part of a loaf or slice of bread. tree →
2. The pastry base or top of a pie or pizza. tree →
3. A hard layer on top of something soft, like frozen snow or dried mud. tree →
4. The thin, rocky outer layer of the Earth. tree →

In the lessons

In science, the Earth's crust is the outer layer we live on, above the mantle and core. In everyday life children talk about bread crusts and pizza crusts. Phrases: «the Earth's crust», «pizza crust», «cut the crusts off», «a crust of ice».

Examples

• I don't like the crusts on my sandwiches. tree →
• This pizza has a thin, crispy crust. tree →
• The pie crust was golden brown. tree →
• The Earth's crust is thinner under the oceans. tree →
• A crust of ice formed on the puddle. tree →
• Earthquakes happen when parts of the crust move. tree →
• Eat your crusts; they are just bread. tree →
• Then she gave her a hard crust of bread, saying: tree →

Note

Countable: crusts. Myth: eating crusts does not make your hair curly. The Earth's crust is thin compared with the whole Earth, like the skin of an apple.