Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To chew with a noisy crackling sound.
  • intransitive verb To crush, grind, or tread noisily.
  • intransitive verb Slang To perform operations on; manipulate or process (numerical or mathematical data).
  • intransitive verb To chew noisily with a crackling sound.
  • intransitive verb To move with a crushing sound.
  • intransitive verb To produce or emit a crushing sound.
  • noun The act or sound of crunching.
  • noun A modified sit-up having a smaller range of motion that reduces back strain and strengthens the abdominal muscles.
  • noun A decisive confrontation.
  • noun A critical moment or situation, especially one that occurs because of a shortage of time or resources.
  • noun A period of financial difficulty characterized by tight money and unavailability of credit.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To crush with the teeth; chew with violence and noise: as, to crunch a biscuit; hence, to crush or grind violently and audibly in any other way.
  • To chew.
  • To act or proceed with a sound of crushing or crackling; produce a noise as from crunching anything.
  • noun The act of crunching; the act of penetrating, forcing a passage through, or pressing against anything with a crushing noise.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To chew with force and noise; to craunch.
  • intransitive verb To grind or press with violence and noise.
  • intransitive verb To emit a grinding or craunching noise.
  • transitive verb To crush with the teeth; to chew with a grinding noise; to craunch.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to crush something with a noisy crackling sound, especially with reference to food
  • verb to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound.
  • verb slang to calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations)
  • noun A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching.
  • noun A critical moment or event.
  • noun ) A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in which the lower back remains in contact with the floor.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb reduce to small pieces or particles by pounding or abrading
  • noun a critical situation that arises because of a shortage (as a shortage of time or money or resources)
  • noun the act of crushing
  • noun the sound of something crunching
  • verb press or grind with a crushing noise
  • verb make a crushing noise
  • verb chew noisily

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of craunch, possibly of imitative origin.]

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Examples

  • She saw the dying and exhausted dogs, the frost-rimed, weary men; she heard the quick _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of the snow-shoes hurrying ahead to break the trail; she felt the cruel torture of the _mal de raquette_, the shrivelling bite of the frost, the pain of snow blindness, the hunger that yet could not stomach the frozen fish nor the hairy, black caribou meat.

    The Call of the North Stewart Edward White 1909

  • She saw the dying and exhausted dogs, the frost-rimed, weary men; she heard the quick _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of the snow-shoes hurrying ahead to break the trail; she felt the cruel torture of the

    Conjuror's House A Romance of the Free Forest Stewart Edward White 1909

  • There was plenty of noise and bustle going on about the deck where the lanthorns burned, and the trampling of feet, and shouts that sounded like orders came now and then; but the principal sound just there by the port-hole through which the light came was the _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of the biscuit.

    The Powder Monkey George Manville Fenn 1870

  • Then there was a _crunch, crunch, crunch_, as if pippins were being reduced to pulp, and more twigs were heard to snap.

    Glyn Severn's Schooldays George Manville Fenn 1870

  • Dorothy: Hey … Those are for Freyr … Cammy: * crunch crunch* Delicious!

    IGN Complete 2009

  • Dorothy: Hey … Those are for Freyr … Cammy: * crunch crunch* Delicious!

    IGN Complete 2009

  • I made French Fries, listen to how crunchy they are ... * crunch crunch crunch* "I died laughing.

    Act Now And We'll DOUBLE The Amount! emu-head 2007

  • The striker did get the nod for the title crunch with Chelsea but it was his first start against any of United's big-four rivals this season.

    Analysis 2010

  • The striker did get the nod for the title crunch with Chelsea but it was his first start against any of United's big-four rivals this season.

    Analysis 2010

  • The shrimp tempura, despite being “made to order”, was totally soggy (the crunch is the whole reason to get it!), and while I enjoyed the “special” giant shumai, it was nearly giant enough to be worth the $1.50.

    And the Sushi Parade Marches On… to Norimaki | Midtown Lunch - Finding Lunch in the Food Wasteland of NYC's Midtown Manhattan 2008

Comments

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  • I've started using this word to describe distortion-heavy garage rock a la Oblivians.

    December 3, 2006

  • I use this word to describe someone with an accessible, informal, and interesting personality. "Oh yeah, she's got crunch."

    December 6, 2006

  • I love this word because I can actually hear the "crunch" in my mind when people say it.

    November 5, 2009

  • Also cranch, craunch.

    August 20, 2021