crunch

crunch¹ [krʌntʃ] n

1.) [singular]

a noise like the sound of something being crushed

▪ The only sound was the crunch of tyres on gravel.

2.) [C, singular] AmE

a difficult situation caused by a lack of something, especially money or time

▪ Three new teachers were hired to help ease the crunch.

cash/budget/financial etc crunch

▪ Cost cutting had enabled the organization to survive a previous cash crunch.

3.) the crunch also crunch time AmE

an important time, especially one when a difficult decision has to be made

▪ The crunch came when my bank asked for my credit card back.

▪ When it came to the crunch , she couldn't agree to marry him.

4.)

an exercise in which you lie on your back and lift your head and shoulders off the ground to make your stomach muscles strong

= ↑sit-up

crunch ²

crunch² v

[Date: 1800-1900; Origin: cranch 'to crunch' (17-19 centuries), probably from the sound; influenced by munch]

1.) [I]

to make a sound like something being crushed

▪ Their boots crunched loudly on the frozen snow.

2.) [I always + adverb/preposition, T]

to eat hard food in a way that makes a noise

crunch on

▪ The dog was crunching on a bone.

3.) crunch (the) numbers

to do a lot of calculations in order to find an answer

▪ The computer will crunch all the numbers to determine the final score.