crop
KROP
/krɒp/
Noun: A cultivated plant grown as food, fiber, or fuel. Verb: To cut short or harvest; to appear unexpectedly (crop up).
Refers to plants cultivated systematically in large quantities.
The story behind the word. In Old English, 'cropp' referred to the top cluster or head of a plant where seeds gather. Because the head of the plant was the edible part gathered at harvest, the word expanded to describe the entire harvest.
Word relationships
- harvest: Harvest refers to the gathered produce or the act of gathering, whereas crop refers to the growing plants themselves.
- produce: Produce usually refers to fresh fruits and vegetables ready for consumption.
- weed: An unwanted wild plant growing where it is not wanted.
Commonly confused with
- crap: 'Crop' is cultivated produce; 'crap' is crude slang for trash or waste.
Word family
- cropper (noun): A plant or farm that yields a crop (or in idioms, 'come a cropper' meaning to fall).
Collocations
- cash crop
- crop yield
- harvest crops
- crop failure
Idioms & expressions
- crop up (appear unexpectedly)
- cream of the crop (the best of a group)
Example sentences
- "Wheat is the principal crop grown across the vast central plains." Agricultural harvest
- "Unforeseen delays began to crop up during the building process." Common idiom usage
Memory hook
CROP = Top of the stalk, harvested for the shop. CROP = Farmed plant harvested for food or fiber.
When not to use
Do not use for random individual wild weeds growing on roadsides.
Fun facts
- In birds, the 'crop' is also the name for the muscular pouch near the throat used to temporarily store seeds before digestion!
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