crop

plural crops

1. agricultureA plant, grown for it, or its fruits or seeds, to be harvested as food, livestock fodder, or fuel or for any other economic purpose.

   The farmer had to decide which crop to grow as his main bet for the coming year. Would it be barley, oats, or something else?

2. The production amount of such an output for a specific season or year, particularly of plants.

   It was a good crop of oats this year. What a nice change after last year's crop!

   Synonyms: harvest, yield

3. figurativelyA group, cluster, or collection of things occurring at the same time.

   The decade produced a whole crop of ideas about space travel.

   2 more examples

   The university had an exceptional crop of graduates in 1892, including three who went on to win Nobel Prizes.

   And even if Anna Wintour wanted to invite a fresh crop of internet talent, who would she choose? Can you name anyone in the past year who has ascended in a major way?

   2024 June 26, Stephanie McNeal, “Influencers Aren’t Getting Famous Like They Used To”, in Glamour

4. A group of vesicles at the same stage of development in a disease.

   The patient had a crop of bumps indicative of chicken pox.

5. The lashing end of a whip.
6. An entire short whip, especially as used in horse-riding.

   Synonyms: hunting crop, riding crop, whip, bat

7. A rocky outcrop.
8. The act of cropping.
9. A photograph or other image that has been reduced by removing the outer parts.

   This indicates to the engraver that the subject may be cropped to yield the size desired, but it is advisable that the position for the crop also be determined and marked, else some essential feature of the copy may be cut off by arbitrary cropping to get the required size.

   1924, Harry Appleton Groesbeck Jr., “Preparation of Copy”, in The Process and Practice of Photo-engraving, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, Indicating Sizes, page 234

10. A short haircut.

    Eton crop

    2 more examples

    She went from a ponytail to a crop.

    From an inner pocket he produces a costly Ramillies Wig, shakes it out in a brisk Cloud of scented Litharge, and claps it on, with a minimum of fuss, over his ascetic’s Crop.

    1997, Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon, 1st US edition, New York: Henry Holt and Company, →ISBN, part One: Latitudes and Departures, page 227

11. anatomyA pouch-like part of the alimentary tract of some birds (and some other animals), used to store food before digestion or for regurgitation.

    The bird gave a gulp, and I felt the stone pass along its gullet and down into its crop.

    1892 [January], A[rthur] Conan Doyle, “Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. VII.—The Adventure of the Blue Carbuncle.”, in Geo[rge] Newnes, editor, The Strand Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly, volume III (January to June), number [13], London: George Newnes, Limited, […], page 84, column 2

    2 more examples

    A little bird sat on the edge of her nest; Her yellow-beaks slept as sound as tops; That day she had done her very best, And had filled every one of their little crops.

    1871, George MacDonald, “The Early Bird”, in At the Back of the North Wind

    As the wildebeest shrinks, the circle of sated birds lounging in the short grass expands. With bulging crops, the vultures settle their heads atop folded wings and slide their nictitating membranes shut.

    2015 December, Elizabeth Royte, “Vultures Are Revolting. Here’s Why We Need to Save Them.”, in National Geographic, archived from the original on 13 Dec 2015

    Synonyms: craw

12. architectureThe foliate part of a finial.
13. archaicdialectalThe head of a flower, especially when picked; an ear of corn; the top branches of a tree.
14. businessTin ore prepared for smelting.
15. businessAn outcrop of a vein or seam at the surface.
16. An entire oxhide.
17. in pluralslangMarijuana.

    Cops, come and try to snatch my crops / These pigs wanna blow my house down

    1993, “Insane in the Brain”, in Black Sunday, performed by Cypress Hill

present singular third person crops · participle present cropping · participle past cropped · past cropped

1. transitiveTo remove the top end of something, especially a plant.

   I will crop off from the top of his young twigs a tender one.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Ezekiel 17:22

2. transitiveTo mow, reap or gather.
3. transitiveTo cut (especially hair or an animal's tail or ears) short.

   And the knave who refuses to drink till he fall, / Why the hangman shall crop him — ears, love-locks, and all.

   1890, George John Whyte-Melville, Holmby House: A Tale of Old Northamptonshire, page 92

4. transitiveTo remove the outer parts of a photograph or other image, typically in order to frame the subject better.

   Crop the photo for emphasis and composition.

   1964, Proctor P. Taylor Jr., “Photographs”, in Preparing Contractor Reports for NASA: Technical Illustrating (NASA Special Publications; 7008), 2nd edition, Scientific and Technical Information Division, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, published 1967, →OCLC, NASA SP-7008, page 18

   2 more examples

   Reduce to six inches wide and crop to eight inches high.

   1924, Harry Appleton Groesbeck Jr., “Preparation of Copy”, in The Process and Practice of Photo-engraving, Garden City, New York: Doubleday, Page & Company, →OCLC, Indicating Sizes, page 234

   You'll see that when you enlarge a subject to many times its normal size, and then crop the photo so there is nothing in proportion to be recognized, all resemblance to the original can be hidden.

   1944 July, “WHAT ARE: Name These Enlarged Pictures”, in Popular Science, volume 145, number 1, →ISSN, page 168

5. intransitiveTo yield harvest.
6. transitiveTo cause to bear a crop.

   to crop a field

7. transitiveTo beat with a crop, or riding-whip.

   She cropped the horse into a comfortable canter and enjoyed the familiar rhythm and bounce of the horse's stride.

   2013, Mary Hart Perry, Seducing the Princess