Crop
/krɒp/
Definitions
5 meaningsA plant or plant product that is grown and harvested for food or other use.
/krɒp/
A cultivated plant or the yield from such a plant.
The drought severely damaged the rice crop.
💡 Simply: Imagine a field where farmers grow food like corn or wheat. The 'crop' is everything they harvest at the end of the season. Like, if you get a big bag of apples from the orchard, that's the apple crop!
👶 For kids: A bunch of plants that farmers grow to eat or use, like corn or tomatoes.
More Examples
This year's cotton crop is expected to be very profitable.
They are studying the impact of climate change on various crops.
How It's Used
"The farmer harvested a large crop of wheat this year."
"The apple crop was affected by the late frost."
The process of gathering a crop or harvest.
/krɒp/
The act of harvesting or gathering a crop.
The crop was a long and demanding process.
💡 Simply: The work of gathering all the crops from the fields after they're grown. It's the 'harvest time' activity, such as the act of harvesting crops.
👶 For kids: The time when farmers take the plants out of the ground.
More Examples
The machinery helped streamline the crop.
How It's Used
"The crop was completed in late summer."
A pouch in the throat of a bird or insect where food is stored before being digested.
/krɒp/
The pouch in a bird's throat where food is stored.
The veterinarian examined the bird's crop.
💡 Simply: Birds have a special pocket in their throat to store food before they digest it, like a little lunchbox. This is the 'crop'.
👶 For kids: A special pocket in a bird's tummy where it keeps its food before eating.
More Examples
The bird's crop was distended with seeds.
How It's Used
"The bird's crop was full of seeds."
To cut or trim a part of something, usually to improve its appearance or to remove unwanted parts.
/krɒp/
To cut or trim something short.
She cropped the photo to focus on her face.
💡 Simply: Imagine you have a picture you want to make better. Sometimes you need to 'crop' it, which means you cut off the edges to focus on the best part. Like when you cut off a little bit of your hair.
👶 For kids: To cut off a piece of something, like when you cut off the sides of a picture.
More Examples
The barber cropped his hair short.
I need to crop the excess information from this document.
He cropped out the parts he didn't want to show.
How It's Used
"The photographer cropped the image to remove the distracting background."
"I need to crop the hedges to make them look neat."
To gather or harvest a crop from a field or area.
/krɒp/
To harvest (a crop).
They crop the wheat in the autumn.
💡 Simply: When farmers are ready to take the plants they have grown out of the ground and collect them this is when they 'crop' them
👶 For kids: To take plants out of the ground when they are ready.
More Examples
The machine is used to crop the corn.
How It's Used
"Farmers usually crop their fields in the fall."
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
Antonyms
Idioms & expressions
crop up
To appear or happen suddenly or unexpectedly.
"Problems always seem to crop up at the last minute."
From Middle English croppe, from Old English cropp ('top, head of a plant, fruit'). Related to Dutch krop ('crop, craw') and German Kropf ('goiter, crop').
The word 'crop' has been used in agriculture since the Old English period to refer to the yield of a plant.
Memory tip
Think of a field filled with harvested plants - that's a crop!
Word Origin
"top, head of a plant, fruit"