crunch
crunch Lexical Profile
crunch Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A distinct, loud, muffled grinding or crushing sound made when something hard or brittle is chewed, pressed, or stepped on.
"The satisfying crunch of crisp autumn leaves underfoot echoed through the quiet park."
A critical situation, decisive moment, or severe shortage of time, money, or resources.
"The small business survived the credit crunch by carefully reducing its operating expenses."
A physical exercise Designed to strengthen the abdominal muscles in which a person lies on their back and raises the upper torso slightly off the floor.
"She finished her morning workout routine with three sets of twenty abdominal crunches."
• verb
To crush, grind, or chew a hard or brittle substance with a sharp, noisy sound.
"The horse happily crunched the fresh carrot from her outstretched hand."
To move or press forward with a noisy crushing or grinding sound.
"Heavy boots crunched across the frozen gravel driveway early in the morning."
To process, calculate, or analyze large amounts of numerical data or complex information rapidly (informal).
"Our financial analysts spent the afternoon crunching the latest quarterly revenue figures."
• Rhymes for crunch
Word Origin & Etymology
First recorded in the early 19th century as an alteration of the older verb 'craunch' (to chew noisily), which is of imitative origin.