| Front | crunch |
|---|---|
| Back | crunch noun, verb, adjective BrE /krʌntʃ/ NAmE /krʌntʃ/ noun word origin example bank 1 [countable, usually singular] a noise like the sound of sth firm being crushed the crunch of feet on snow The car drew up with a crunch of gravel. 2 the crunch [singular] (informal) an important and often unpleasant situation or piece of information The crunch came when she returned from America. He always says he'll help but when it comes to the crunch (= when it is time for action) he does nothing. The crunch is that we can't afford to go abroad this year. 3 [countable, usually singular] (especially NAmE) a situation in which there is suddenly not enough of sth, especially money a budget/energy/housing crunch Higher grain prices are putting a crunch on cattle feeders. 4 [countable] = sit-up verb verb forms word origin example bank 1 [transitive, intransitive] ~ (on) sth to crush sth noisily between your teeth when you are eating She crunched her apple noisily. 2 [intransitive, transitive] ~ (sth) to make or cause sth to make a noise like sth hard being crushed scrunch The snow crunched under our feet. 3 [intransitive] + adv./prep. to move over a surface, making a loud crushing noise I crunched across the gravel to the front door. 4 [transitive] ~ sth (computing) to deal with large amounts of data very quickly We are waiting for the results officials who are still crunching numbers. see also number crunching ˌcrunch sthˈup to crush sth completely He crunched up the empty pack and threw it out of the window. adjective word origin [only before noun] (informal) a crunch meeting, sports game, etc. is very important and may be the last chance to succeed Sunday's crunch game with Leeds The Agriculture Secretary goes into a crunch meeting with senior ministers in Brussels tomorrow. |
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