Meaning & use
crusted
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Meanings
adjectiveafter a verb
Covered with a hard, dry layer of something such as dirt, salt or dried liquid.
Grammar: Usually followed by with: boots crusted with mud.
Patterns
- crusted with something
His boots were crusted with dried mud.
The rocks were crusted with salt after the tide went out.
She wiped the crusted jam off the jar.
adjectivebefore a noun
Cooked with a coating of nuts, herbs, spices or crumbs forming a crisp outer layer.
Grammar: Often joined to the coating word: herb-crusted lamb.
Patterns
- something-crusted food
The restaurant served almond-crusted salmon.
We ordered a pepper-crusted steak.
She baked a parmesan-crusted chicken breast.
Common combinations
- crusted with mud
- The tires were crusted with mud.
- crusted with salt
- His jacket was crusted with salt after the swim.
- herb-crusted
- The herb-crusted lamb arrived with roasted vegetables.
- nut-crusted
- I ordered nut-crusted fish.
- crusted over
- The wound had crusted over.
Synonyms and how they differ
- caked
- Caked suggests a thicker, clumsier layer of something messy, and rarely describes food.
- encrusted
- Encrusted is more formal and often suggests jewels or minerals forming a covering.
- coated
- Coated is neutral and may refer to a thin, soft layer, while crusted suggests a hard one.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: crusted or crushed?
crusted vs crushed
Crushed means pressed hard and broken or flattened, while crusted means covered with a hard layer.
Practice
The farmer's boots were ___ with dried mud.
Choose one answer.
Crusted with means covered by a hard layer. Crushed looks similar but means squashed, and the others do not fit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “crusted”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.