Literary notes about encrusted (AI summary)
The term “encrusted” is employed by many authors to evoke a sense of layers—both physical and metaphorical—that accumulate over time. In a literal sense, it vividly describes surfaces covered by deposits: a frost-encrusted window illustrates nature’s touch on an everyday object [1], while sandstone, marble, or even salt on a landscape all gain an antique, transformed quality through encrustation [2], [3]. At the same time, the word is often chosen to depict elaborate adornments or grim conditions, as when a sword hilt is gem-encrusted to signify opulence [4] or when dirt encrusts a man’s face, emphasizing decay [5]. There are even instances where the layering serves as a metaphor for character or societal traits—an individual’s moral being is described as encrusted with perversity, suggesting deep-seated corruption, and a heart is figuratively encrusted by the burdens of life [6].
- Thus from the first life regarded the little Chichikov with sour distaste, and as through a dim, frost-encrusted window.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol - In many parts the sand is encrusted with a beautiful white salt.
— from Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 by James Richardson - In New Mexico, the Rio del Norte frequently is encrusted, during the winter, with ice thick enough to travel on.
— from Spanish America, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir - By his side was also a short sword but with a hilt that was not only gold but also gem-encrusted.
— from The Radio Boys' Search for the Inca's Treasure by Gerald Breckenridge - The man's face and hands were encrusted with a plastic mixture of dust and sweat till he looked like a lamellar creature—an armadillo.
— from Bulldog Carney by William Alexander Fraser - It o’erwhelms myself; How was my heart encrusted by the world!
— from Young's Night ThoughtsWith Life, Critical Dissertation and Explanatory Notes by Edward Young
