crash program

American

noun

a plan of action entailing rapid and intensive production, growth, or the like, undertaken to meet a deadline or solve a pressing problem.

a crash program to develop a new fighter plane.

Etymology

Origin of crash program

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

In the early 1980s, he led the fight against a crash program to map all human genes, fearing, once again, unknown consequences.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 8, 2025

A crash program to develop a cattle equivalent might make sense, says Carol Cardona, an avian influenza specialist and poultry veterinarian at the University of Minnesota.

From Science Magazine • Apr. 1, 2024

Manhattan Project, the World War II–era crash program to build the first-ever atomic bombs.

From Scientific American • Jul. 21, 2023

Authorities launched a crash program to scale up.

From Washington Post • Jun. 1, 2020

Rachael said, “Our present crash program and overall planning call for us to obtain an additional owl which can mate with Scrappy.”

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023