Sekirov Dictionary

crunch

/kɹʌnt͡ʃ/

noun 11
verb 8
forms 3
phrases 1

noun11

A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching.
•
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
•
A shortage.
- But a supply crunch, which is already affecting the drive, could slow it down further. — 2021
•
Crunchiness.
- I like the crunch of those crackers.
A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in which the lower back remains in contact with the floor.
•
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
(slang) The overtime work required to catch up and finish a project, usually in the final weeks of development before release.
A dessert consisting of a crunchy topping with fruit underneath.
•
A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material with a friable or crunchy texture.
- 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 edges — 2014
(US) The symbol #.
Moderate distortion.

verb8

•
To crush something, especially food, with a noisy crackling sound.
- When I came home, Susan was watching TV with her feet up on the couch, crunching a piece of celery.
•
To be crushed with a noisy crackling sound.
- Beetles crunched beneath the men's heavy boots as they worked.
•
To grind or press with violence and noise.
- The sound of our vessel crunching her way through the new ice is not easy to be described. — 1854
•
To emit a grinding or crunching noise.
- There were sounds in the air above his head – sounds of the crunching and rattling of the loose, smooth stones as his neighbors moved about[…] — 1849
To cause the gears to emit a crunching sound by releasing the clutch before the gears are properly synchronised.
•
(slang) To calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations). Presumably from the sound made by mechanical calculators.
- That metadata makes it much easier for the search engine to crunch the data for queries.
(slang) To make employees work overtime in order to meet a deadline in the development of a project.
•
To compress (data) using a particular algorithm, so that it can be restored by decrunching.
- PackIt will not crunch executables, unless told to do so. — 1993

forms

crunched · crunching · crunches

Phrases with crunch

crunch numbers
To figure; to do the math.

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