credit crunch

British  

noun

1. informal a period during which there is a sudden reduction in the availability of credit from banks and other lenders

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Example Sentences

Despite warnings from banks and investor exits, Walsh views issues in the $3 trillion private credit market as limited, not a widespread credit crunch.

From Barron's • Mar. 30, 2026

Cass is dismissive of “debt refinancings,” but some of us are old enough to remember the 2008 credit crunch when businesses had trouble issuing commercial paper.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 18, 2026

He warns that a credit crunch or pullback in sentiment such as seen the early 2000s would see a lot of that spending by those companies drop fairly fast.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 16, 2025

That was more than double any other response, including fears of a possible credit crunch or a broadening of the wars in Ukraine or the Middle East.

From Seattle Times • Feb. 25, 2024

More frequent are a recession, a slump, a credit crunch, a slowdown, a growth recession and other less exotic variants.

From After the Rain : how the West lost the East by Vaknin, Samuel