US /kɹæʃ/
noun verb Freq #1948

Meanings

  1. 1
    noun

    A serious accident in which a vehicle hits something.

    They are still investigating the plane crash.

  2. 2
    verb

    To hit something violently and be damaged or destroyed.

    The car crashed into a tree.

  3. 3
    verb

    To stop working suddenly, as a computer or system does.

    My computer crashed last night and I lost my work.

  4. 4
    verb

    To fall suddenly and sharply in value.

    Stock prices crashed overnight.

  5. 5
    verb

    To sleep somewhere, often temporarily or informally.

    You can crash here tonight if you like.

Thesaurus

Synonyms
1 noun · a serious accident in which... wreck
3 verb · to stop working suddenly,... go down
5 verb · to sleep somewhere, often... doss down
Word family
Forms crashedcrashescrashing
Derived forms aircrashanticrashautocrashcrash-divecrash-hotcrash-landcrash-proofcrashabilitycrashablecrashdumpcrashercrashgate

Etymology

From Middle English crasshen, crasschen, craschen (“to break into pieces”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of earlier *crasken, from crasen (“to break”) + -k (formative suffix); or from earlier *craskien, *craksien, a variant of craken (“to crack, break open”) (for form development compare break, brask, brash).

View etymology graph ->

Topics

markdown

Send feedback

Optional — only if you'd like a reply.