crunch

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

Also spelled cronched and cronching

US /krʌntʃ/ UK /krʌntʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to crush noisily with the teeth, or a critical moment of pressure

When the crunch came, the team rallied to meet the deadline.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to crush noisily with the... munchchompgrind scrunch crush gnash

Word family

Derived forms crunchycruncher

Related forms craunchscrunch

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

crunch time
the final, high-pressure period before a deadline

Etymology

An imitative, onomatopoeic word (an alteration of earlier 'craunch') echoing the sound of crushing something brittle.

crunch onomatopoeic

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# crunch

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /krʌntʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /krʌntʃ/

## Meanings
1. to crush noisily with the teeth, or a critical moment of pressure

## Examples
- When the crunch came, the team rallied to meet the deadline.

## Synonyms
- munch
- chomp
- grind
- scrunch
- crush
- gnash

## Derived Forms
- crunchy
- cruncher

## Related Forms
- craunch
- scrunch

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crunch

## Etymology
An imitative, onomatopoeic word (an alteration of earlier 'craunch') echoing the sound of crushing something brittle.

## AI Etymology
Crunch is an imitative, onomatopoeic word (an alteration of earlier 'craunch') echoing the sound of crushing something brittle. The etymological trail includes onomatopoeic crunch. As a verb, crunch means to crush noisily with the teeth, or a critical moment of pressure. The same family is visible in derived forms such as crunchy and cruncher and related forms such as craunch and scrunch.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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