out·crop | \ ˈau̇t-ˌkräp 
\
\Definition of outcrop
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a coming out of bedrock or of an unconsolidated deposit to the surface of the ground
2 : the part of a rock formation that appears at the surface of the ground
outcrop
verbout·crop | \ ˈau̇t-ˌkräp , ˌau̇t-ˈkräp \
, ˌau̇t-ˈkräp \outcropped; outcropping; outcrops
Definition of outcrop (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : to project from the surrounding soil
ledges outcropping from the eroded slope
2 : to come to the surface : appear
Examples of outcrop in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web: Noun The trek took me to an outcrop of reddish sandstone that held the bones of the predatory dinosaur Spinosaurus.
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Gerald Herbert, National Geographic, "What's it like to find a piece of a one-of-a-kind dinosaur?," 16 Sep. 2020 Easter Island’s iconic collection of moai—massive stone monoliths built by the outcrop’s first inhabitants many centuries ago—now stands one fewer.
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Katherine J. Wu, Smithsonian Magazine, "After Truck Topples Easter Island Statue, Mayor Calls for Traffic Restrictions," 6 Mar. 2020 Just under 1,400 feet high, the limestone outcrop is riddled with an extensive cave network that has offered shelter to humans, and their hominid cousins, for tens of thousands of years.
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Manuel Jaén, National Geographic, "Face of a 7,500-year-old woman reveals Gibraltar's earliest humans," 4 June 2020 In October, as the protests were becoming more dangerous, the team decided to display her on Lion Rock, a mountainous outcrop which can be seen from much of Hong Kong.
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The Economist, "Revolution of our times A totem of the protest movement goes on display in Hong Kong," 27 May 2020 Fishing for reds, sheepshead and trout will steadily improve with continuing cold fronts—look for outcrops or bait schools on sonar, or fish around rocks and pilings for the sheepshead; www.ateamfishing.com.
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Frank Sargeant, al, "Friday Fishing Report: What’s working now on Alabama waters?," 22 Nov. 2019 The gang would then relocate to the park’s semiarid Savuti region, a landscape of baobab trees and rocky outcrops where dense herds of zebra and buffalo congregate at watering holes and try not to get picked off by the Savuti lion pride.
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Paul Kvinta, Outside Online, "A Tourism Lull May Be Good for Animals—but Not for Long," 1 Apr. 2020 In 1900, a pair of prospectors hiking near Alaska’s Kennicott glacier discovered an outcrop of copper ore on a mountainside about 100 miles inland from Valdez.
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Alan Taylor, The Atlantic, "Kennecott Mines: An Alaskan Ghost Town," 7 Jan. 2020 Looking west from Waimea Bay in Hawaii, past the palm trees and the outcrops of lava rock, to the Pacific.
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Francesca Babb, Condé Nast Traveler, "Paul Theroux's Earliest Travel Memory Is a Train Ride Through New England," 23 Dec. 2019 Recent Examples on the Web: Verb This exclusive, discrete resort (no photos allowed) consists of a series of bungalows set around a private lagoon, whose waters are protected from the waves by a rock outcropping dotted with deluxe beach chairs.
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Shannon Sims, New York Times, "36 Hours in Curaçao," 11 Feb. 2020 While the iron boat badly deteriorated badly over the century it's been exposed to the elements, the scow has remained tightly fixed to a rock outcropping since August 1918.
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Jeanne Bonner, CNN, "Heavy wind, rain dislodge boat trapped on rocks above Niagara Falls 101 years," 2 Nov. 2019 Magnetic anomalies abounded in the ancient natural world, where a lightning strike on a rock outcropping was much more likely than today.
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David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, "The Fascinating History of Magnetism Goes Back Even Longer Than We Thought," 6 Aug. 2019 On the evening of January 28, 1918, fifteen unarmed men and boys were rounded up and roped together by Texas Rangers and local ranchers, then led to a rock outcropping in the desert and shot dead.
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Steve Anderson, The New York Review of Books, "Another Forgotten Atrocity," 6 June 2019 In Topanga State Park, hike up to Eagle Rock—a massive sandstone outcropping nearly 2,000 feet above sea level—for panoramic views.
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Rico Gagliano, WSJ, "3 Quick Escapes From Los Angeles," 1 Aug. 2018 But here Bidwell starts to feel wilder, as the Maidu and Middle and Upper Trails branch off into the foothills and toward the rock outcropping known as Monkey Face, and other trails dip into the dense riparian growth along Big Chico Creek.
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Peter Fish, San Francisco Chronicle, "Best secrets of small-town Chico’s big city park," 16 Mar. 2018 Shovels and Rope is a cool rockabilly outcropping of that movement.
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NOLA.com, "See the slew of excellent concerts coming up in New Orleans," 18 Jan. 2018 The petroglyphs were rediscovered after an 1881 wildfire devastated much of the region and burned off the vegetation that had covered the sandstone outcropping.
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Keith Matheny, Detroit Free Press, "Vandal defaces historic Sanilac Petroglyphs carved by Great Lakes native Americans," 8 Sep. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'outcrop.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for outcrop
The first known use of outcrop was in 1805
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