crush

[ kruhsh ]

verb (used with object)

1. to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms.

   Synonyms: rumple, crumple

2. to squeeze or pound into small fragments or particles, as ore, stone, etc.

   Synonyms: crumble, mash, powder, pulverize

3. to force out by pressing or squeezing; extract:

   to crush cottonseeds in order to produce oil.

4. to rumple; wrinkle; crease.
5. to smooth or flatten by pressure:

   to crush leather.

6. to hug or embrace forcibly or strongly:

   He crushed her in his arms.

7. to destroy, subdue, or suppress utterly:

   to crush a revolt.

   Synonyms: quash, overcome, quell

8. to overwhelm with confusion, chagrin, or humiliation, as by argumentation or a slighting action or remark; squelch.
9. to oppress grievously.
10. Archaic. to finish drinking (wine, ale, etc.).

verb (used without object)

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

noun

1. the act of crushing; state of being crushed.
2. a great crowd:

   a crush of shoppers.

3. Informal.
   1. an intense but usually short-lived infatuation with someone.
   2. the object of such an infatuation:

      Who's your latest crush?

verb phrase

1. Informal. to have an infatuation with; have a crush on:

   She’s been crushing on him for a year.

crush

¹

/ krʌʃ /

verb

1. to press, mash, or squeeze so as to injure, break, crease, etc
2. to break or grind (rock, ore, etc) into small particles
3. to put down or subdue, esp by force

   to crush a rebellion

4. to extract (juice, water, etc) by pressing

   to crush the juice from a lemon

5. to oppress harshly
6. to hug or clasp tightly

   he crushed her to him

7. to defeat or humiliate utterly, as in argument or by a cruel remark
8. intr to crowd; throng
9. intr to become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure

noun

1. a dense crowd, esp at a social occasion
2. the act of crushing; pressure
3. a drink or pulp prepared by or as if by crushing fruit

   orange crush

4. informal.
   1. an infatuation

      she had a crush on him

   2. the person with whom one is infatuated

crush

²

/ krʌʃ /

noun

1. 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

Derived Forms

• ˈcrusher, noun
• ˌcrushaˈbility, noun
• ˈcrushable, adjective

Other Words From

• crusha·ble adjective
• crusha·bili·ty noun
• crusha·bly adverb
• crusher noun
• un·crusha·ble adjective
• un·crushed adjective
• well-crushed adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of crush¹

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English cruschen, crusshen, from Middle French croi(s)sir, cruisir “to gnash one's teeth, make a crashing or cracking sound, crackle, rustle, smash,” Medieval Latin cruscīre “to crackle,” from Germanic; compare Gothic kriustan “to crunch, grind,” Old Swedish krusa, krosa “to crush,” krȳsta “to gnash (one's teeth),” Middle Low German krossen “to crush”

Word History and Origins

Origin of crush¹

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

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. crush it, Informal. to do something very well and with enthusiasm.

More idioms and phrases containing crush

see have a crush on .

Synonym Study

See break.

Example Sentences

As made famous on the big screen in High Fidelity, mixtapes were the perfect way to woo your crush, or just impress your friends with how many obscure bands you’d heard of.

From Popular-Science

Facebook is, in particular, notorious for its attempts to copy and crush rivals, like Snapchat and now TikTok.

From Fortune

How to make a fortune tellerThis craft is one of the more difficult on this list, but we’ve placed it high up because of how common a tool it was for trying to find out if your crush liked you back, or if you were going to pass the next test.

From Popular-Science

The benefit, according to Rayl, is by everyone taking the same day off, there’s no pent-up crush of workload when people return—because no one else was assigning work while they were out either.

From Fortune

If you’re a little boy who has a crush on fox Robin Hood, maybe that leads you to accept yourself sooner.

From Vox

Why would “they” want to crush him just for attempting to buy something twenty years ago?

From The Daily Beast

His high school prom was around the corner, and he had been hanging out with a boy that he had a crush on.

From The Daily Beast

Tank Battle Jeep Guard Crush -- some editorial changes and the removal of all blood when the guards are crushed by the tank.

From The Daily Beast

We have a specific idea to attach to THE INTERVIEW that will crush.

From The Daily Beast

The main article called Reflections on the Final Crusade outlines in prophetic terms just how ISIS will crush Christianity.

From The Daily Beast

Her feet crush creeping things: there is a busy ant or blazoned beetle, with its back broken, writhing in the dust, unseen.

From Project Gutenberg

The Emperor found he had no longer any reason to fear him, and for the moment determined to crush him completely.

From Project Gutenberg

There, in the crush, he unceremoniously lost her, and sped like a maniac to the entrance gates.

From Project Gutenberg

You have heard of my misfortunes, and you take a mean advantage of your knowledge to crush and kill me.

From Project Gutenberg

The Emperor staked his last card, and ordered the Guard to make one last effort to crush the English infantry.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• horde
• multitude
• throng