OUTCROP (outcropped, outcropping)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: outcropped    , outcropping   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does outcrop mean? 

• OUTCROP (noun)
  The noun OUTCROP has 1 sense:

1. the part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the surrounding land

  Familiarity information: OUTCROP used as a noun is very rare.

• OUTCROP (verb)
  The verb OUTCROP has 1 sense:

1. appear on the surface, come to the surface on the ground

  Familiarity information: OUTCROP used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• OUTCROP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the surrounding land

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural objects (not man-made)

Synonyms:

outcrop; outcropping; rock outcrop

Hypernyms ("outcrop" is a kind of...):

rock; stone (a lump or mass of hard consolidated mineral matter)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "outcrop"):

belay (something to which a mountain climber's rope can be secured)

outthrust (an outcropping of rock that extends outward)

Derivation:

outcrop (appear on the surface, come to the surface on the ground)

• OUTCROP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they outcrop    ... he / she / it outcrops   
Past simple: outcroped   
Past participle: outcroped   
-ing form: outcroping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Appear on the surface, come to the surface on the ground

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Big boulders outcropped

Hypernyms (to "outcrop" is one way to...):

appear (come into sight or view)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

outcrop; outcropping (the part of a rock formation that appears above the surface of the surrounding land)

 Context examples 

Here and, later, at outcrops on the slope of Mount Sharp inside Gale Crater, researchers plan to use Curiosity's science instruments to learn more about habitable past conditions and environmental changes.

(NASA Mars Orbiter Spies Rover Near Martian Butte, NASA)

Geochemists explored the outcrop in a submersible, hoping to collect samples of the warm fluids that emerge from cracks in the rocks.

(Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea, National Science Foundation)

It therefore found in a wide variety of habitats: volcanic terrains, lava-strewn coasts, and clearings or limestone outcrops.

(Morinda citrifolia, NCI Thesaurus)

This sandstone outcrop — part of a geological layer that Curiosity's science team calls the Stimson unit — has a structure called crossbedding on a large scale that the team has interpreted as deposits of sand dunes formed by wind.

(Mars Panorama from Curiosity Shows Petrified Sand Dunes, NASA)

Using ancient sediment from outcrops along the edge of the lake, Emily Beverly, a sedimentary geologist at the University of Houston, along with researchers at Baylor University, generated a water-budget model to see how Lake Victoria's levels respond to changes in evaporation, temperature, rainfall and solar energy.

(Environmental change in Africa: Will it lead to a drying Lake Victoria?, National Science Foundation)

And this nursery was situated alongside the warm fluids issuing from the cracks in the outcrop.

(Giant group of octopus moms discovered in the deep sea, National Science Foundation)