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

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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

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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

The dot-com crash followed in 2000, while 2022 proved a losing year for stocks, especially tech names partly due to rising U.S. interest rates.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

Advanced Healthcare Technology and Williams have since developed the Babypod: a carbon fibre carrier designed to withstand a 20G crash, which can help prevent injury in the transportation of babies from ambulance to hospital.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

Yandex did experience a crash in bot activity, but at least some of that traffic seems to be legitimate.

From Salon ● Oct. 15, 2026

A medical evacuation helicopter crash off Catalina Island that left three dead highlights the many risks of emergency transport to the mainland.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 14, 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 69 reported fatal crashes linked to an automated-driving system or an advanced driver assistance system from July 2021 to August 2026, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

As commercial flying has got safer, the death toll from suspected intentional crashes increasingly stands out, reports Andrew Tangel.

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

Pain radiates out and crashes into the nerves behind my eyes.

From "Everything, Everything" by Nicola Yoon

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 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

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 crashed plane, described as an ATR-42 aircraft, carries between 30 and 50 passengers, according to its manufacturers.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

It sailed in the air, then crashed and cracked.

From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton

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

He was also forced to miss his anticipated England debut at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in July after crashing during a keirin event in Japan.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 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

Then they rounded a spit, and ahead of them were the other boats, standing off in the surf where a reef sent breakers crashing up into the air.

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

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Related Words

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• smash
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