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definitions

crush

[kruhsh]
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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crush ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object)

verb (used without object)

to become crushed.
to advance with crushing; press or crowd forcibly.

noun

Origin of crush

1300–50; Middle English crus-chen < Middle French cruisir < Germanic; compare Old Swedish krusa, krosa, Middle Low German krossen to crush
Related formscrush·a·ble, adjectivecrush·a·bil·i·ty, nouncrush·a·bly, adverbcrush·er, nounun·crush·a·ble, adjectiveun·crushed, adjectivewell-crushed, adjective

Synonyms for crush

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR crush ON THESAURUS.COM
1. crumple, rumple. 2. pulverize, powder, mash, crumble. 7. quell, overcome, quash.

Synonym study

2. See break.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for crush

throng, horde, multitude, passion, crumble, beat, bruise, squash, mash, break, trample, squeeze, demolish, annihilate, subdue, wreck, suppress, ruin, overpower, overwhelm

Examples from the Web for crush

Contemporary Examples of crush

Historical Examples of crush

  • Beneath the car of this Juggernaut we must flout our judgments and crush our affections.

  • And she seemed about to crush it on the top of the stone balustrade at the edge of the platform.

    The Trail Book

    Mary Austin

  • That's a kind of human feeling you don't want to crush out in a man.

    The Underdog

    F. Hopkinson Smith

  • He was daily worse fed, and as the weeks went by was daily less able to crush a foe.

    The Biography of a Grizzly

    Ernest Seton-Thompson

  • Before, he had looked like a giant; now Wahb felt he could crush him with one paw.

    The Biography of a Grizzly

    Ernest Seton-Thompson

British Dictionary definitions for crush

crush

1

verb (mainly tr)

to press, mash, or squeeze so as to injure, break, crease, etc
to break or grind (rock, ore, etc) into small particles
to put down or subdue, esp by forceto crush a rebellion
to extract (juice, water, etc) by pressingto crush the juice from a lemon
to oppress harshly
to hug or clasp tightlyhe crushed her to him
to defeat or humiliate utterly, as in argument or by a cruel remark
(intr) to crowd; throng
(intr) to become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure

noun

a dense crowd, esp at a social occasion
the act of crushing; pressure
a drink or pulp prepared by or as if by crushing fruitorange crush
informal
  1. an infatuationshe had a crush on him
  2. the person with whom one is infatuated
Derived Formscrushable, adjectivecrushability, nouncrusher, noun

Word Origin for crush

C14: from Old French croissir, of Germanic origin; compare Gothic kriustan to gnash; see crunch

crush

2

noun

vet science a construction designed to confine and limit the movement of an animal, esp a large or dangerous animal, for examination or to perform a procedure on it
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for crush
v.

mid-14c., from Old French cruissir (Modern French écraser), variant of croissir "to gnash (teeth), crash, break," perhaps from Frankish *krostjan "to gnash" (cf. Gothic kriustan, Old Swedish krysta "to gnash"). Figurative sense of "to humiliate, demoralize" is c.1600. Related: Crushed; crushing. Italian crosciare, Catalan cruxir, Spanish crujirare "to crack" are Germanic loan-words.

n.

1590s, "act of crushing," from crush (v.). Meaning "thick crowd" is from 1806. Sense of "person one is infatuated with" is first recorded 1884; to have a crush on is from 1913.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Idioms and Phrases with crush

crush

see have a crush on.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.