crunch
nounEtymology From earlier craunch, cranch, of imitative origin.
10 senses
- 1Crunchiness.
- 2A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material…
- 3A dessert consisting of a crunchy topping with fruit underneath.
- 4A critical moment or event.
- 5A problem that leads to a crisis.
- 6The overtime work required to catch up and finish a…
- 7A shortage.
- 8A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in…
- 9The symbol #.
- 10Moderate distortion.
› A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually…
Crunchiness.
- I like the crunch of those crackers.
Cooking, Food, Lifestyle A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material with a friable or crunchy texture.
Generally in the plural
- Smear the peanut butter, fluff, and a bit of the nutella all over, even to the very edge of the wrap. Sprinkle the crunches on top and then start rolling from one of the non-trimmed edges2014 December 18, “Fluffernutter and Nutella Yule Log”, in The Lovely Crazy:
A dessert consisting of a crunchy topping with fruit underneath.
A critical moment or event.
- It always pains me (slightly) when a flaming young radical like Neil Miller turns out when the crunch comes to be such an ardent defender of the status quo.1976 August 21, A. Nolder Gay, “Another View”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 4:
- The friends, on the contrary, argue that Job does not "know", that only God knows; yet, when it comes to the crunch, they themselves seem to know as much as God knows: for example, that Job is a guilty sinner.1985, John C. L. Gibson, Job, page 237:
A problem that leads to a crisis.
- The crunch is characterized by extremely depressed liquidity and deteriorated balance sheet positions for households, corporations, and financial institutions[…]1994, Martin H. Wolfson, Financial Crises: Understanding the Postwar U.S. Experience, page 22:
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences, Software Slang The overtime work required to catch up and finish a project, usually in the final weeks of development before release.
Slang A shortage.
- But a supply crunch, which is already affecting the drive, could slow it down further.2021 April 22, “Covid: India sets global record for new cases amid oxygen shortage”, in BBC News:
Exercise, Hobbies, Lifestyle, Sports A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in which the lower back remains in contact with the floor.
- But even I draw the line at “doing crunches” in designer clothes. Fashion sneakers are for swanking around the shops, not for running in. And so, like everyone else, I wear grotty old tracksuits earmarked for Oxfam, and tragic free festival T-shirts that give away my age.2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:
US The symbol #.
Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Moderate distortion.
- Synonyms
- hashtag, number sign, pound sign
- Derived terms
- big crunch, buttercrunch, chili crunch, credit crunch, crunch factor, crunch game, crunchless, crunch-time, crunch time, crunchy, Dutch crunch, pizza crunch, reverse crunch, screen crunch, scrunch, stomach crunch, time crunch
- Coordinate terms
- sit-up, trunk curl