The ongoing action of forming or covering with a crust.
Present participle of 'becrust,' formed by adding '-ing' to show the action is in progress. Same roots as 'becrust' with the active-process suffix.
The '-ing' form captures an interesting idea: salt water 'becrusting' a ship's hull means the process is continuous and accumulating, which is more vivid than just saying 'crusting,' because the 'be-' makes it sound like the crust is getting all over the object.
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