crud

American  

[kruhd] / krʌd /

noun

1. Slang.

   1. a deposit or coating of refuse or of an impure or alien substance; muck.

   2. a filthy, repulsive, or contemptible person.

   3. something that is worthless, objectionable, or contemptible.

   4. prevarication, exaggeration, or flattery.

   5. a nonspecific, imaginary, or vaguely defined disease or disorder of the body.

      jungle crud.

   6. any unpleasant external ailment, disorder, or the like, as a skin rash.

   7. venereal disease, especially syphilis.

   8. Vulgar. dried semen.

2. Dialect. curd.

3. Dialect. clabber.

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verb (used with or without object)

crudded, crudding

1. Dialect. to curd.

crud British  

/ krʌd /

noun

1. a sticky substance, esp when dirty and encrusted

2. an undesirable residue from a process, esp one inside a nuclear reactor

3. something or someone that is worthless, disgusting, or contemptible

4. a disease; rot

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interjection

1. an expression of disgust, disappointment, etc

Regionalisms

See clabber.

Etymology

Origin of crud

1325–75; Middle English; earlier form of curd

Explanation

If you get some gross, unidentifiable substance on the bottom of your shoe, you can call it crud. Basically, crud is anything that's grimy or dirty, especially if you're not sure exactly what it is. Other ways to say crud include gunk, slop, or muck. Your mom might complain that your room is full of crud, or you might spend a summer afternoon washing crud off your car. Either way, it's generally dirty stuff, bordering on the disgusting. In the 1940's, crud was popular slang that meant "nonsense or rubbish." Earlier, it was Army slang for "venereal disease," or sexually transmitted disease.

Example Sentences

It is not just a renovation after the fire, but a complete overhaul including removing decades of crud and soot built up since the last restoration.

From BBC • Nov. 29, 2024

No one wants to imagine giant cloud filled with plastic raining crud water all over them.

From Salon • Sep. 29, 2023

“I suspect the internet is going to be filled with crud just all over the place,” Chris Albon told me.

From New York Times • Jul. 18, 2023

Natural gas is a fossil fuel, just like the oil that’s refined into gasoline, and burning it can put out some of the same nasty, not-nice-for-humans crud.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2023

He cleared the crud from his vision just in time to see the boy run off, the rattraps clattering like castanets on the toes of his shoes.

From "Hoot" by Carl Hiaasen