crop

noun \ ˈkräp \

|Updated on: 11 Aug 2018

Definition of crop

1 : a pouched enlargement of the esophagus of many birds that serves as a receptacle for food and for its preliminary maceration; also : an enlargement of the digestive tract of another animal (such as an insect)

2 a (1) : a plant or animal or plant or animal product that can be grown and harvested extensively for profit or subsistence

an apple crop

a crop of wool

(2) : the total yearly production from a specified area

b : the product or yield of something formed together

the ice crop

c : a batch or lot of something produced during a particular cycle

the current crop of films

d : collection

a crop of lies

3 : the stock or handle of a whip; also : a riding whip with a short straight stock and a loop

[²crop]

a : the part of the chine of a quadruped (such as a domestic cow) lying immediately behind the withers —usually used in plural — see cow illustration

b : an earmark on an animal; especially : one made by a straight cut squarely removing the upper part of the ear

c : a close cut of the hair

He has a thick crop of hair.

See crop defined for English-language learners

See crop defined for kids

Examples of crop in a Sentence

Tobacco is their main crop.
They sprayed the crops with a pesticide.
The teachers got ready for a new crop of students.
a new crop of horror movies

Recent Examples of crop from the Web

Make growing your next crop easy by sowing one seed to a small pot or each section of a cell pack.

— tom maccubbin, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Caterpillar invasion isn't end for healthy tree," 14 July 2018
Desperate to keep their crops alive, farmers in Fresno County drilled 763 new wells in 2015 alone, according to the Department of Water Resources.

— dale kasler and phillip reese, sacbee, "The Valley floor is sinking, and it’s crippling California’s ability to deliver water," 13 July 2018
At the center of The Can of Anido is Maran (Xie Jia-hui), an old aboriginal farmer who spends his days silently cultivating his ailing crops and feeding himself with pintsized yam in his barren, rickety hut.

— clarence tsui, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Ten Years Taiwan': Film Review," 13 July 2018
Simple changes to incentives—letting farmers profit from the sale of their own crops, for example—led to a surge of agricultural productivity.

— The Economist, "Is North Korea the next Vietnam? Don’t count on it," 12 July 2018
Brazil’s past has set a lofty standard for its current crop.

— martin rogers, USA TODAY, "Brazil is no longer the class of world soccer," 6 July 2018
Their shipments will now be subject to a 25 percent tariff, which will instantly make their crops far costlier in China.

— paul wiseman, The Seattle Times, "What you need to know about the upcoming U.S.-China tariffs," 2 July 2018
Their early crop is headlined by Dominican Republic outfielder Jose de la Cruz and Dominican Republic shortstop Adinso Reyes.

— anthony fenech, Detroit Free Press, "Detroit Tigers reportedly sign 2 top 20 international free agents," 2 July 2018
According to a 1745 report, the mission maintained large herds of cattle, sheep, goats, horses and oxen, but early settlers complained that the animals were trampling their crops.

— joe holley, Houston Chronicle, "The remarkable Ana Maria Calvillo: She could ride, shoot, ranch and live in peace with the Indians," 29 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'crop.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.