crunch

To break something hard, especially food, by pressing or biting it with a loud cracking sound.

• She crunched a biscuit.
• He sat crunching on an apple.
• The machine crunched the empty cans into small pieces.

How to use it: crunch on something (He crunched on a raw carrot.)

Similar words: crush, chew

Common phrases: crunch an apple, crunch on something, crunch something up

To make a loud cracking sound when something hard is pressed or broken.

• The gravel crunched underfoot.
• Our boots crunched through the frozen snow.
• Broken glass crunched beneath the car's wheels.

Similar words: crackle

Common phrases: crunch underfoot, crunch beneath something, crunch through snow

To do many calculations with numbers or process a large amount of information.

• Let me crunch the numbers.
• The software crunched millions of records overnight.
• We need to crunch these figures before setting the budget.

Similar words: calculate, process, analyze

Common phrases: crunch numbers, crunch the data

To break under pressure with a loud cracking sound.

• The shell crunched under his boot.
• Dry leaves crunched beneath the heavy wheels.
• The thin plastic crunched as she squeezed it.

Similar words: crumple, break

Common phrases: crunch beneath something, crunch under something

The loud cracking sound made when something hard is pressed, bitten, or broken.

• I heard a loud crunch.
• The biscuit broke with a satisfying crunch.
• We heard the crunch of footsteps on frozen snow.

Similar words: crack, crackle

Common phrases: a loud crunch, with a crunch, the crunch of something

A difficult period when there is not enough time, money, or another important resource.

• The company faces a cash crunch.
• It's crunch time, and everyone is working late.
• A funding crunch forced the hospital to postpone repairs.

Similar words: crisis, squeeze

Common phrases: a cash crunch, a credit crunch, crunch time