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

Owners’ equity is worth 72% of the total value of U.S. housing, compared with 55% in the fourth quarter of 2007, right before the last major housing crash.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Instead of crossing over into the afterlife, Billy, the magically inclined twin, transferred his soul into the body of William Kaplan, a teenager who had just been involved in a fatal car crash.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 2026

The crash between Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the sprint race in Singapore left, in Norris' words, "no-one very happy" at McLaren.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Over the past couple of years, Jones has repeatedly warned that the AI trade might end badly in a “blow-off top” followed by a crash, similar to what investors experienced during the dot-com peak.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026

“Reah and Vanessa are coming to crash at my place too. It’ll be great. An all-night gossip and Bachelor fest.”

From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam

"We wanted those moments when the bed crashes and breaks, and the way they comment on that in the scene is quite comedic," he said.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

In some cases, a major hurdle has been a lack of official agreement on what caused the crashes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Drivers are highly protected and safety precautions have been boosted further after fatal crashes in nitromethane-fuelled cars in 2004 and 2008, with races reduced in length.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

The crashes of October 1929 and 1987 were particularly memorable.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 4, 2026

Reality crashes back in like a heavy ocean wave.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton

Buyers have not had this much negotiating power since the years following the Great Recession when the housing market crashed, the brokerage said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

The stock market crashed in 1929, begetting federal securities regulations including the creation of the Securities and Exchange Commission — in 1934.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026

Yamamoto crashed hard, slipping on the slick grass as he tried to pivot but still managing to make a throw to first from the ground.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

The following year, another FlyDubai Boeing 737-800 crashed while trying to land in Rostov-on-Don, Russia, killing all 62 people aboard.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026

If the subprime mortgage market crashed, Bear Stearns was going to crash with it.

From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis

The subtext of their question is the worry that, just as Icarus soared so high that the sun melted his wings of wax, a market that rises too far is prone to crashing.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 12, 2026

The four-time champion has looked the man to beat all weekend, and took pole for the grand prix a few hours after winning the sprint, following Russell crashing out of the lead.

From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026

Continuously inhabited for the last quarter-century, the aging ISS is scheduled to be pushed out of orbit before crashing into one of Earth's oceans sometime around 2030.

From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026

As the train arrived in San Clemente, passengers peered through the train windows to take in the crashing waves, sandy shoreline and beachgoers relaxing underneath umbrellas.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026

The heavy swell had changed and was now crashing into their floe head on.

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

Related Words

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