crash

¹ American  

[krash] / kræʃ /

verb (used without object)

• crashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crashed,
  past participle,  past
• crashing
  present participle

1. to make a loud, clattering noise, as of something dashed to pieces.

2. to break or fall to pieces with noise.

3. (of moving vehicles, objects, etc.) to collide, especially violently and noisily.

4. to move or go with a crash; strike with a crash.

5. Aeronautics. to land in an abnormal manner, usually causing severe damage.

   The airliner crashed.

6. to collapse or fail suddenly, as a financial enterprise.

   The stock market crashed.

7. Informal. to gain admittance to a party, performance, etc., without an invitation, ticket, or permission.

8. Slang.

   1. to sleep.

   2. to have a temporary place to sleep or live without payment.

      He let me crash at his house.

   3. to fall asleep.

      I get home in the evening and I just crash till it's time for dinner.

9. Slang. to experience unpleasant sensations, as sudden exhaustion or depression, when a drug, especially an amphetamine, wears off.

10. Medicine/Medical Slang. to suffer cardiac arrest.

11. Ecology. (of a population) to decline rapidly.

12. Computers. to shut down because of a malfunction of hardware or software.

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verb (used with object)

• crashes,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crashed,
  past participle,  past
• crashing
  present participle

1. to break into pieces violently and noisily; shatter.

   Synonyms:

   smash, break

2. to force or drive with violence and noise (usually followed by in, through, out, etc.).

3. Aeronautics. to cause (an aircraft) to make a landing in an abnormal manner, usually damaging or wrecking the aircraft.

4. Informal.

   1. to gain admittance to, even though uninvited.

      to crash a party.

   2. to enter without a ticket, permission, etc..

      to crash the gate at a football game.

noun

1. a sudden loud noise, as of something being violently smashed or struck.

   the crash of thunder.

2. a breaking or falling to pieces with loud noise.

   the sudden crash of dishes.

3. a collision or crashing, as of automobiles, trains, etc.

4. the shock of collision and breaking.

5. a sudden and violent falling to ruin.

   Synonyms:

   ruin, failure

6. a sudden general collapse of a business enterprise, prosperity, the stock market, etc..

   the crash of 1929.

7. Aeronautics. an act or instance of crashing.

8. Ecology. a sudden, rapid decline in the size of a population.

adjective

1. characterized by an intensive effort, especially to deal with an emergency, meet a deadline, etc..

   a crash plan to house flood victims; a crash diet.

crash ² American  

[krash] / kræʃ /

noun

1. a plain-weave fabric of rough, irregular, or lumpy yarns, for toweling, dresses, etc.

2. Bookbinding. starched cotton fabric used to reinforce the spine of a bound book.

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crash ¹ British  

/ kræʃ /

verb

1. to make or cause to make a loud noise as of solid objects smashing or clattering

2. to fall or cause to fall with force, breaking in pieces with a loud noise as of solid objects smashing

3. (intr) to break or smash in pieces with a loud noise

4. (intr) to collapse or fail suddenly

   this business is sure to crash

5. to cause (an aircraft) to hit land or water violently resulting in severe damage or (of an aircraft) to hit land or water in this way

6. to cause (a car, etc) to collide with another car or other object or (of two or more cars) to be involved in a collision

7. to move or cause to move violently or noisily

   to crash through a barrier

8. informal short for gate-crash

9. (intr) (of a computer system or program) to fail suddenly and completely because of a malfunction

10. slang (intr) another term for crash out

11. informal to fail; be unsuccessful

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noun

1. an act or instance of breaking and falling to pieces

2. a sudden loud noise

   the crash of thunder

3. a collision, as between vehicles

4. a sudden descent of an aircraft as a result of which it hits land or water

5. the sudden collapse of a business, stock exchange, etc, esp one causing further financial failure

6. (modifier)

   1. requiring or using intensive effort and all possible resources in order to accomplish something quickly

      a crash programme

   2. sudden or vigorous

      a crash halt

      a crash tackle

7. informal a complete failure

crash ² British  

/ kræʃ /

noun

1. a coarse cotton or linen cloth used for towelling, curtains, etc

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crasher
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• crashing
  present
• crashed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crash
  simple
• crashes
  simple
• have crashed
  perfect
• has crashed
  perfect
• am crashing
  progressive
• are crashing
  progressive
• is crashing
  progressive
• have been crashing
  perfect progressive
• has been crashing
  perfect progressive

Past

• crashed
  simple
• had crashed
  perfect
• was crashing
  progressive
• were crashing
  progressive
• had been crashing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crash
  simple
• will have crashed
  perfect
• will be crashing
  progressive
• will have been crashing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of crash¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; 1920–25 crash ¹ for def. 16; 1870–75 crash ¹ for def. 22; Middle English crasche, blend of crase “to break” and masche “to crush, pulp”; see origin at craze, mash ¹

Origin of crash²

First recorded in 1805–15; probably from Russian krashenína “painted or dyed coarse linen,” equivalent to kráshenyĭ “painted” (past participle of krásit' “to paint”) + -ina noun suffix

Explanation

Boom! Bam! Pow! A crash is when two things collide, or smash, into each other. Crash and smash have similar meanings and sounds. You can start to worry when you hear the word crash. Many people die in car and airplane crashes every year. Other crashes are less physical yet just as bad. In a stock-market crash, a lot of people lose a lot of money. You can also use crash as a verb. You'd better not crash your bike into the coffee shop window! If your computer crashes, you will probably lose all the data in it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crash crashes crashed crashing

It saw a surge of popularity among analysts after correctly anticipating the 2008 stock-market crash.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

An electric Hawaiian guitar that doubles as a crutch was designed in 1984 by Semie Moseley for country-music singer Barbara Mandrell in the wake of a car crash that left her severely injured.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026

The centerpiece is the three minutes where Travis calmly narrates the plane crash interspersed with him drumming, amid flames, in a way that captures each emotional beat of what he went through.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026

The low reading suggests the cost of crash protection covering the next 30 days has reached relatively attractive levels, due to light demand.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

They were rescued on the ground by Soviet soldiers who’d seen the plane crash.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

There have been some 560 e-bike crashes in the city this year through the third week in July, up 28% from the same period last year.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026

As the late, great economist Hyman Minsky pointed out, booms pretty much always lead to bubbles, which in turn lead to crashes, because of human nature.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 12, 2026

According to a World Bank study, crashes already cost India an estimated 3-5% of its GDP each year through lost productivity, healthcare costs and disability.

From BBC ● Aug. 6, 2026

In the 1970s, the US space agency carried out deliberate crashes during its Apollo program to collect seismic data.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

One of the Wyatt-Johnston boys crashes into me, soaking my cover-up.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

They have all his awards and guitars and stuff and the velvet slippers he had on when the plane crashed.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026

It crashed around 1:30 p.m. local time south of Salado, which is about 50 miles north of Austin, Texas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

The trailer then crashed into a Toyota parked on the right shoulder.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

The drone eventually crashed into a sunflower field, Radev said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 8, 2026

An 850-foot-tall wave surged up from Spirit Lake as the landslide crashed into it.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

I could, of course, save my payment info to a shopping site and my entire financial plan wouldn’t come crashing down.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Historically, when value stocks are having their moment in the sun, it usually means that the broader market is crashing and burning.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026

The ultra-fast missiles travel on a high arcing trajectory before crashing down into their target.

From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026

He unleashed his right hand in the second round, with the final shot sending Albanian Prenga crashing down and forcing the referee to halt the contest.

From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026

If we went on, the whole team, all of us, would go crashing down into the rushing river.

From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell

Related Words

• bump
• collapse
• collide
• ditch
• dive
• drop
• hurtle
• meet
• overturn
• plunge
• slip
• smash
• topple
• tumble