crop

[ krop ]

noun

1. the cultivated produce of the ground, while growing or when gathered:

   the wheat crop.

2. the yield of such produce for a particular season.
3. the yield of some other product in a season:

   the crop of diamonds.

4. a supply produced.
5. a collection or group of persons or things appearing or occurring together:

   this year's crop of students.

6. the stock or handle of a whip.
7. Also called riding crop. a short riding whip consisting of a stock without a lash.
8. Also called craw. Zoology.
   1. a pouch in the esophagus of many birds, in which food is held for later digestion or for regurgitation to nestlings.
   2. a chamber or pouch in the foregut of arthropods and annelids for holding and partly crushing food.
9. the act of cropping.
10. a mark produced by clipping the ears, as of cattle.
11. a close-cropped hairstyle.
12. a head of hair so cut.
13. an entire tanned hide of an animal.
14. Mining. an outcrop of a vein or seam.

verb (used with object)

, cropped or (Archaic) cropt; crop·ping.

1. to cut off or remove the head or top of (a plant, grass, etc.).
2. to cut off the ends or a part of:

   to crop the ears of a dog.

3. to cut short:

   cropped t-shirts.

4. to clip the ears, hair, etc., of.
5. Photography. to cut off or mask the unwanted parts of (a print or negative).
6. to cause to bear a crop or crops.
7. to graze off (the tops of plants, grass, etc.):

   The sheep cropped the lawn.

verb (used without object)

, cropped or (Archaic) cropt; crop·ping.

1. to bear or yield a crop or crops.
2. to feed by cropping or grazing.

adjective

1. (of women’s casual garments) shorter than is usual:

   a crop top that bares your midriff;

   crop pants that end at mid-calf.

verb phrase

1. to appear, especially suddenly or unexpectedly:

   A new problem cropped up.

2. 1. Geology, Mining. to rise to the surface of the ground:

      Veins of quartz crop out in the canyon walls.

   2. to become evident or visible; occur:

      A few cases of smallpox still crop out every now and then.

crop

/ krɒp /

noun

1. the produce of cultivated plants, esp cereals, vegetables, and fruit
2. 1. the amount of such produce in any particular season
   2. the yield of some other farm produce

      the lamb crop

3. a group of products, thoughts, people, etc, appearing at one time or in one season

   a crop of new publications

4. the stock of a thonged whip
5. short for riding crop
6. 1. a pouchlike expanded part of the oesophagus of birds, in which food is stored or partially digested before passing on to the gizzard
   2. a similar structure in insects, earthworms, and other invertebrates
7. the entire tanned hide of an animal
8. a short cropped hairstyle See also Eton crop
9. a notch in or a piece cut out of the ear of an animal
10. the act of cropping

verb

1. to cut (hair, grass, etc) very short
2. to cut and collect (mature produce) from the land or plant on which it has been grown
3. to clip part of (the ear or ears) of (an animal), esp as a means of identification
4. also intr to cause (land) to bear or (of land) to bear or yield a crop

   the land cropped well

5. (of herbivorous animals) to graze on (grass or similar vegetation)
6. photog to cut off or mask unwanted edges or areas of (a negative or print)

Other Words From

• crop·less adjective
• non·crop adjective
• un·cropped adjective
• well-cropped adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of crop¹

First recorded before 900; Middle English, Old English crop, cropp “sprout, ear of wheat (or other grain), paunch, crown of a tree”; cognate with German Kropf; croup ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of crop¹

Old English cropp; related to Old Norse kroppr rump, body, Old High German kropf goitre, Norwegian kröypa to bend

Idioms and Phrases

• cream of the crop

Synonym Study

Crop, harvest, produce, yield refer to the return in food obtained from land at the end of a season of growth. Crop, the term common in agricultural and commercial use, denotes the amount produced at one cutting or for one particular season: the potato crop. Harvest denotes either the time of reaping and gathering, or the gathering, or that which is gathered: the season of harvest; to work in a harvest; a ripe harvest. Produce especially denotes household vegetables: Produce from the fields and gardens was taken to market. Yield emphasizes what is given by the land in return for expenditure of time and labor: There was a heavy yield of grain this year.

Example Sentences

"It's possible this ability to digest dairy was important to survival during periods of crop failure, food scarcity and disease," Narasimhan said.

From Science Daily

Where hurricanes, flooding, and higher temperatures have massive impacts on crops, including peaches, around the nation, heirloom varieties, like the Indian peach, are also threatened.

From Salon

The researchers built a hydro-economic model based on detailed geologic, climate and well data for the groundwater system, and data on land use, crop production and farm economics for the agricultural system.

From Science Daily

There are now more than 8,000 different C4 plant species, which grow particularly well in hot, dry climates and are some of the most productive crop species in the world.

From Science Daily

But overall, sugar hasn't received a lot of attention from the scientific community despite being the largest cultivated crop by mass on the planet.

From Salon

Related Words

• prune
• shave
• shear