incrustations

Noun

incrustation (countable and uncountable, plural incrustations)

1. The act of incrusting, or the state of being incrusted.
2. A crust or hard coating of anything upon or within a body, as a deposit of lime, sediment, etc., from water on the inner surface of a steam boiler.
3. A covering or inlaying of marble, mosaic, etc., attached to the masonry by cramp irons or cement.
4. Anything inlaid or embedded.
5. (figuratively) An accumulated characteristic of a person that disguises their true nature.
   • Her reception of her brother was most affectionate—there are times when the most artificial, by habit, become natural; when the early memories of the heart, for a short time at least, spring up as a fountain of living waters, overflowing the selfish vanities and conventional incrustations which the...1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XIX, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 244