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crunch numbers

 - 4 dictionary results

crunch

[kruhnch]
–verb (used with object)
1. to crush with the teeth; chew with a crushing noise.
2. to crush or grind noisily.
3. to tighten or squeeze financially: The administration's policy seems to crunch the economy in order to combat inflation.
–verb (used without object)
4. to chew with a crushing sound.
5. to produce, or proceed with, a crushing noise.
–noun
6. an act or sound of crunching.
7. a shortage or reduction of something needed or wanted: the energy crunch.
8. distress or depressed conditions due to such a shortage or reduction: a budget crunch.
9. a critical or dangerous situation: When the crunch comes, just do your best.
10. crunch numbers, Computers.
a. to perform a great many numerical calculations or extensive manipulations of numerical data.
b. to process a large amount of data.
Also, craunch.


Origin:
1795–1805; b. craunch and crush


crunch⋅a⋅ble, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
crunch

  1. n.
    a crisis; a time of pressure or tightness, especially of a budget. : The budget crunch meant that we couldn't take trips to Europe anymore.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

crunch 
1814, from craunch (1631), probably of imitative origin. The noun is 1836, from the verb; the sense of "critical moment" was popularized by Winston Churchill, whose first recorded use of it was in 1939. Crunchy is from 1892; student slang sense of "annoyingly intense about health or environmental issues" is 1980s, short for crunchy granola; not entirely pejorative at first.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Idioms & Phrases

crunch numbers

Perform numerous calculations or process a large amount of numerical data. For example, Preparing John's presentation to the Federal Reserve Board required many hours of crunching numbers. This term originated with the computer age and indeed still applies mostly to the operations of computers. [Slang; second half of 1900s]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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