/ krɒp; NAmE krɑːp/ noun , verb
■ noun
PLANTS FOR FOOD
1.
[ C ] a plant that is grown in large quantities, especially as food :
Sugar is an important crop on the island.
crop rotation / production / yield
The crops are regularly sprayed with pesticides.
—see also cash crop , catch crop
2.
[ C ] the amount of grain, fruit, etc. that is grown in one season
SYN harvest :
a fall in this year's coffee crop
We are looking forward to a bumper crop (= a very large one).
GROUP OF PEOPLE
3.
[ sing. ] a ~ of sth a group of people who do sth at the same time; a number of things that happen at the same time :
the current crop of trainees
She is really the cream of the crop (= the best in her group) .
a crop of disasters / injuries
WHIP
4.
[ C ] a short whip used by horse riders :
a riding crop
HAIR
5.
[ C ] a very short hairstyle
6.
[ sing. ] a ~ of dark, fair, etc. hair / curls hair that is short and thick :
He had a thick crop of black curly hair.
OF BIRD
7.
( technical ) a part of a bird's throat shaped like a bag where food is stored before it passes into the stomach
■ verb
( -pp- )
HAIR
1.
to cut sb's hair very short :
[ vn ]
closely cropped hair
[also vn - adj ]
PHOTOGRAPH
2.
[ vn ] ( technical ) to cut off part of a photograph or picture
OF ANIMALS
3.
[ vn ] to bite off and eat the tops of plants, especially grass
PLANTS
4.
[ v ] ( of plants ) to produce a crop :
The potatoes cropped well this year.
5.
[ vn ] to use land to grow crops :
The river valley is intensively cropped.
•
PHRASAL VERBS
- crop up
••
WORD ORIGIN
Old English , of Germanic origin; related to German Kropf . From Old English to the late 18th cent. there existed a sense flower head, ear of corn , giving rise to sense 1 and senses referring to the top of something.