scrunch
Americanverb (used with object)
-
scrunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scrunched,
past participle, past
-
scrunching
present participle
-
to crunch, crush, or crumple.
-
to contract; squeeze together.
I had to scrunch my shoulders to get through the door.
verb (used without object)
-
scrunches,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scrunched,
past participle, past
-
scrunching
present participle
noun
verb
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scrunchsimple
-
scrunchessimple
-
have scrunchedperfect
-
has scrunchedperfect
-
am scrunchingprogressive
-
are scrunchingprogressive
-
is scrunchingprogressive
-
have been scrunchingperfect progressive
-
has been scrunchingperfect progressive
Past
-
scrunchedsimple
-
had scrunchedperfect
-
was scrunchingprogressive
-
were scrunchingprogressive
-
had been scrunchingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scrunch
First recorded in 1815–25; perhaps expressive variant of crunch
Explanation
To scrunch is to crumple or crush something. In the process of writing your novel by hand, you'll have to scrunch a lot of pages and toss them into the trash can. You can scrunch up you sister's favorite shirt and shove it back in her drawer after she says you can't borrow it, and you can also scrunch up your face in anger. Use this verb whenever you crease, wrinkle, crush, or squeeze something into a mass. It's also a good term for a crunching sound: "I heard a scrunch in the dry leaves under my window." Scrunch arose as an intensive form of crunch, originally meaning "to bite."
Vocabulary lists containing scrunch
"The People Could Fly" by Virginia Hamilton
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I Survived the Battle of D-Day, 1944
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The First State of Being
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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.
See Examples For:
You cook them really quickly in a pan with butter and then scrunch them, which allows for the maple-soy butter to pool in all the little pockets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
In signature Smith style, her light-wash jeans scrunch just above a pair of tan, heeled boots.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 19, 2025
My face would scrunch up and I’d shudder from the intense flavors, but I never cried.
From Salon ● Sep. 13, 2025
Since the mid-1960s, microscopists have seen that axons can scrunch up to form beads when they are diseased or under other stress.
From Science Magazine ● Dec. 2, 2024
She told us to scrunch under our desks.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
He seems unafraid to be a little silly and puffs out his cheeks or scrunches up his face to entertain the babies.
From Slate ● Jun. 24, 2023
Horse manure plops onto the asphalt, and no one blinks or scrunches their nose.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 15, 2023
When a visible star is tugged by the gravity of an unseen companion, the motion to and from Earth stretches and scrunches the light.
From Science Magazine ● Jul. 17, 2022
It scrunches its cheeks, raises its eyebrows, and then grimaces and blinks.
From The Verge ● May 4, 2022
His face scrunches like he swallowed a lemon.
From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas
The woman's Do Not Attempt Resuscitation document was also found scrunched up in a cupboard, the report added.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
“She makes a little scrunched nose,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 28, 2026
Or a small, scrunched face slumbering in a stroller.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025
When ISA President Fernando Aguerre informed Aguirre on Friday that she had qualified, her face scrunched up on camera as she started to cry.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 3, 2024
He scrunched his nose on principle as he descended the last set of stairs and headed down the hall that opened up to it.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
When Jimmy is passionately advocating for something and Kayla is in the same frame, she’s often gesticulating, scrunching up her face or emitting noises like “pffffft.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
At Y/Project, Glenn Marten continued to rework the classics – twisting a trench and scrunching its form with the aid of a wired hem.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 28, 2021
Scared and grieving, living in a grim and hopeless world, what’s to stop a reality-altering super being from waving her hands, scrunching her nose, and dropping into the seemingly safe confines of a 1950s sitcom?
From Slate ● Jan. 14, 2021
But when a midwife placed the baby in her arms — the tiny girl scrunching her face up and yawning — Hiyam knew that she had to protect her.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 30, 2019
I still didn't respond, and just started scrunching the sleeves of my T-shirt up to my shoulders.
From "Ghost" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
