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Synonyms

crash-land

American  
[krash-land] / ˈkræʃˈlænd /

verb (used with object)

  • crash-lands,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • crash-landed,
    past participle,  past
  • crash-landing
    present participle
  1. to land (an aircraft), under circumstances in which a normal landing is impossible, in such a way that damage to the aircraft is unavoidable.


verb (used without object)

  • crash-lands,
    present (3rd person singular)
  • crash-landed,
    past participle,  past
  • crash-landing
    present participle
  1. to crash-land an aircraft.

crash-land British  

verb

  1. to land (an aircraft) in an emergency causing damage or (of an aircraft) to land in this way

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future


Etymology

Origin of crash-land

First recorded in 1940–45; crash 1 + land


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

There’s a more than 1% chance the asteroid will make its way toward Earth and crash-land on the planet in December 2032.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 7, 2025

Another study showed that a group of frogs called pumpkin toadlets had become so small that the fluid-filled canals in their ears that confer balance no longer functioned properly, causing them to crash-land when jumping.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 6, 2024

Both characters are humanoids from faraway planets who crash-land on Earth.

From New York Times ● Aug. 4, 2023

Why did a Nazi leader crash-land in Scotland?

From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2022

They’re made out of some kind of astronaut plastic that could crash-land on Venus and not break.

From "Tangerine" by Edward Bloor

When Arco crash-lands into it, however, having borrowed a cape and a diamond, Iris’s focus turns to helping him find his way home.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 22, 2026

The winds get stronger and the vampire drone crash-lands.

From BBC ● Jan. 17, 2025

One B-17 survives Luftwaffe attacks and crash-lands in Northern Africa.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2024

Charlton Heston stars as the captain of a four-person space crew that crash-lands on a planet that feels unfamiliar, where talking apes rule and humans, such as they are, have been enslaved.

From New York Times ● May 15, 2024

Forty-five years later another alien from Newton's home planet crash-lands on Earth, this time in New Mexico.

From Salon ● Apr. 24, 2022

The organic molecules are not definitive evidence of past life, the NASA-led team emphasised, because they could also have formed on the red planet or crash-landed on meteorites.

From Barron's ● Apr. 21, 2026

Then he purposely crash-landed into Ketron Island on Puget Sound.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

“Superman” crash-landed on a planet divided, closing out an era defined by crime, economic strife and the Vietnam War.

From Salon ● Jul. 10, 2025

On 25 December, 38 people died when an Azerbaijan Airlines flight, which had been due to land in Russia, crash-landed in Kazakhstan.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024

Luke would give anything to go back to pretending to fly missions, when they crash-landed behind enemy lines.

From "We'll Fly Away" by Bryan Bliss

Data released by the flight-tracking website Flight Radar shows the plane zig-zagging up and down as it approached Aktau, before turning and crash-landing just kilometres from the airport.

From BBC ● Dec. 27, 2024

The win comes just four days after Russia’s crash-landing.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

During a long Space Ranger mission, Buzz takes an unplanned detour and winds up crash-landing his ship and a sizable raft of humanity on an unfriendly planet.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2022

Alan Tudyk plays Harry, masquerading as a small-town doctor - and a human - after crash-landing on Earth.

From Washington Times ● Jan. 25, 2021

“But you’ve been shot down on almost every one. You’re either ditching or crash-landing every time you go up.”

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller

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