crop

noun

1. A 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!”

3. (figuratively)A group, cluster, or collection of things occurring at the same time.

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

   “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?”

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.
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.”

10. A short haircut.

    “She went from a ponytail to a crop.”

    “Eton 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.”

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

    “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.”

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

    “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.”

12. The foliate part of a finial.
13. (archaic, dialectal)The head of a flower, especially when picked; an ear of corn; the top branches of a tree.
14. Tin ore prepared for smelting.
15. An outcrop of a vein or seam at the surface.
16. An entire oxhide.
17. (in-plural, slang)Marijuana.

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

verb

1. (transitive)To remove the top end of something, especially a plant.

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

2. (transitive)To mow, reap or gather.
3. (transitive)To 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.”

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

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

   “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.”

   “Crop the photo for emphasis and composition.”

5. (intransitive)To yield harvest.
6. (transitive)To cause to bear a crop.

   “to crop a field”

7. (transitive)To 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.”