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crush

[kruhsh] /krʌʃ/
verb (used with object)
1.
to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms.
2.
to squeeze or pound into small fragments or particles, as ore, stone, etc.
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.
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)
11.
to become crushed.
12.
to advance with crushing; press or crowd forcibly.
noun
13.
the act of crushing; state of being crushed.
14.
a great crowd:
a crush of shoppers.
15.
Informal.
  1. an intense but usually short-lived infatuation.
  2. the object of such an infatuation:
    Who is your latest crush?
Origin of crush
Middle English
Middle French
Germanic
Old Swedish
1300-1350
1300-50; Middle English crus-chen < Middle French cruisir < Germanic; compare Old Swedish krusa, krosa, Middle Low German krossen to crush
Related forms
crushable, adjective
crushability, noun
crushably, adverb
crusher, noun
uncrushable, adjective
uncrushed, adjective
well-crushed, adjective
Synonyms
1. crumple, rumple. 2. pulverize, powder, mash, crumble. See break. 7. quell, overcome, quash.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2016.
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Examples from the Web for crush
Contemporary Examples
Historical Examples

  • As he felt the heel of the mountain about crush his head, he sprang again to his feet.

    Last Words Stephen Crane

  • You may crush out nihilism to-day, but you cannot crush it out forever.

    Princess Zara Ross Beeckman

  • And one must crush mountains of quartz and wash hills of sand to get it.

    A Year in the Fields John Burroughs

  • crush the resulting hash with the blade of a knife to make it very fine.

    The Italian Cook Book Maria Gentile

  • To “crush Prussian militarism” does not mean only to crush the German armies.

    German Problems and Personalities Charles Sarolea
British Dictionary definitions for crush

crush1

/krʌʃ/
verb (mainly transitive)
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.
(intransitive) to crowd; throng
9.
(intransitive) to become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure
noun
10.
a dense crowd, esp at a social occasion
11.
the act of crushing; pressure
12.
a drink or pulp prepared by or as if by crushing fruit: orange crush
13.
(informal)
  1. an infatuation: she had a crush on him
  2. the person with whom one is infatuated
Derived Forms
crushable, adjective
crushability, noun
crusher, noun
Word Origin
C14: from Old French croissir, of Germanic origin; compare Gothic kriustan to gnash; see crunch

crush2

/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
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word Origin and History for crush
v.

mid-14c., from Old French cruissir (Modern French écraser), variant of croissir "to gnash (teeth), crash, break," perhaps from Frankish *krostjan "to gnash" (cf. Gothic kriustan, Old Swedish krysta "to gnash"). Figurative sense of "to humiliate, demoralize" is c.1600. Related: Crushed; crushing. Italian crosciare, Catalan cruxir, Spanish crujirare "to crack" are Germanic loan-words.

n.

1590s, "act of crushing," from crush (v.). Meaning "thick crowd" is from 1806. Sense of "person one is infatuated with" is first recorded 1884; to have a crush on is from 1913.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang definitions & phrases for crush

crush

noun

  1. A passing infatuation: That's a crush, Manny is love (1895+)
  2. thick crowd; heavily crowded place (1806+)

verb

To humiliate someone; reduce someone to helpless dismay: Her snub crushed me (1610+)

Related Terms

have a crush on someone, orange crush

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.
Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.
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Idioms and Phrases with crush

crush

see: have a crush on
The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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