| a period of intense pressure; a critical situation: It's crunch time for high-tech companies. Compare crunch (def. 10). |
crunch time
A period when pressure to succeed is great, often toward the end of an undertaking. For example, It's crunch time
we only have two more days to finish. This term employs crunch in the sense of "a critical situation or test." [Slang; 1970s]