bedrock


The solid rock that lies beneath soil, sediment, and loose surface material — the unbroken foundation of the earth's crust. Bedrock is what you hit when you dig deep enough, drill far enough, or erode everything else away. Exposed bedrock is the landscape stripped to its skeleton. The word has become a metaphor for anything fundamental and unshakable, which is fitting — bedrock is the thing beneath everything else.
Etymology
English compound — the rock at the bed, the bottom.
geology
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