encrustation
Americannoun
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an encrusting or being encrusted.
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a crust or coat of anything on the surface of a body; covering, coating, or scale.
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the inlaying or addition of enriching materials on or to a surface or an object.
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the enriching materials inlaid on or added to a surface or an object.
Etymology
Origin of encrustation
First recorded in 1650–60 for incrustation, later for encrustation, encrust + -ation
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He seeks to liberate Sondheim’s reputation from the encrustation of myth and to demystify his relationships, while offering a succinct analysis of his achievements.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 17, 2026
Mostly, Hynes called him O’Casey, but a few times she called him Sean, and the warmth of that familiarity melted away any sepia encrustation that has accumulated around his name.
From New York Times • Oct. 4, 2023
This encrustation can speed up corrosion and obscure a ship’s appearance over time, making it harder to analyze the degradation of the shipwreck.
From Scientific American • Nov. 11, 2021
On trips to Death Valley, Douglas has examined the microbial life that can be found in the flats, where millennia of flooding and evaporation have left an encrustation of salt.
From The New Yorker • Nov. 6, 2016
Ever since the Hunley was placed in this tank, researchers and scientists have been painstakingly cleaning a century-and-a-half of sand, sediment, corrosion, and encrustation from the world’s first successful combat submarine.
From "Shipwrecked!" by Martin W. Sandler
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
