From earlier craunch, cranch, of imitative origin.
Meanings
A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching. ▸ Crunchiness.
I like the crunch of those crackers.
(qualifier:generally in the plural) A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching. ▸ A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material with a friable or crunchy texture.
Smear the peanut butter, fluff, and a bit of the nutella all over, even to the very edge of the wrap. Sprinkle the crunches on top and then start rolling from one of the non-trimmed edges 2014 December 18, “Fluffernutter and Nutella Yule Log”, in The Lovely Crazy:
A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching. ▸ A dessert consisting of a crunchy topping with fruit underneath.
A critical moment or event.
The friends, on the contrary, argue that Job does not "know", that only God knows; yet, when it comes to the crunch, they themselves seem to know as much as God knows: for example, that Job is a guilty sinner. 1985, John C. L. Gibson, Job, page 237:
It always pains me (slightly) when a flaming young radical like Neil Miller turns out when the crunch comes to be such an ardent defender of the status quo. 1976 August 21, A. Nolder Gay, “Another View”, in Gay Community News, volume 4, number 8, page 4:
A critical moment or event. ▸ A problem that leads to a crisis.
The crunch is characterized by extremely depressed liquidity and deteriorated balance sheet positions for households, corporations, and financial institutions[…] 1994, Martin H. Wolfson, Financial Crises: Understanding the Postwar U.S. Experience, page 22:
(slang) A critical moment or event. ▸ The overtime work required to catch up and finish a project, usually in the final weeks of development before release.
(slang) A critical moment or event. ▸ A shortage.
But a supply crunch, which is already affecting the drive, could slow it down further. 2021 April 22, “Covid: India sets global record for new cases amid oxygen shortage”, in BBC News:
A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in which the lower back remains in contact with the floor.
But even I draw the line at “doing crunches” in designer clothes. Fashion sneakers are for swanking around the shops, not for running in. And so, like everyone else, I wear grotty old tracksuits earmarked for Oxfam, and tragic free festival T-shirts that give away my age. 2017 November 16, Jo Ellison, “Help: the gym has turned us into slobs”, in Financial Times:
bg критичен момент (critical moment or event) · el μασώντας δυνατά (a noisy crackling sound) · sv crunch (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · sv knastrande (a noisy crackling sound) · de Bauchpresse (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · sv knaprande (a noisy crackling sound) · pl chrupot (a noisy crackling sound) · fr crunch (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · fr croquement (a noisy crackling sound) · es crujido (a noisy crackling sound) · fi vatsarutistus (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · el δαγκώνω (a noisy crackling sound) · cmn 捲腹 /卷腹 (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · fi rouske (a noisy crackling sound) · el τραγανίζω (a noisy crackling sound) · bg хрускане (a noisy crackling sound) · hu felülés (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · pl chrzęst (a noisy crackling sound) · fi tosipaikka (critical moment or event) · el λαχταρώ (a noisy crackling sound) · de Bauchpressen (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · de Krise (critical moment or event) · yue 捲腹 /卷腹 (form of abdominal exercise based on a sit-up) · pl chrupanie (a noisy crackling sound) · pl chrupnięcie (a noisy crackling sound) · el μασάω (a noisy crackling sound) · fi ratina (a noisy crackling sound) · ru хруст (a noisy crackling sound) · fr craquement (a noisy crackling sound) · el μασουλίζω (a noisy crackling sound) · da knas (a noisy crackling sound) · ar قَرْمَشَة (a noisy crackling sound)
From earlier craunch, cranch, of imitative origin.
Meanings
To crush something, especially food, with a noisy crackling sound.
When I came home, Susan was watching TV with her feet up on the couch, crunching a piece of celery.
And their white tusks crunch'd o'er the whiter skull, 1816, Lord Byron, The Siege of Corinth:
To be crushed with a noisy crackling sound.
Beetles crunched beneath the men's heavy boots as they worked.
(slang) To calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations). Presumably from the sound made by mechanical calculators.
That metadata makes it much easier for the search engine to crunch the data for queries.
To grind or press with violence and noise.
The sound of our vessel crunching her way through the new ice is not easy to be described. 1854, E.K. Kane, “The United States Grinnell Expedition in Search of Sir John Franklin: a personal Narrative”, in The Living Age, page 517:
The departure was not unduly prolonged.[…]Within the door Mrs. Spoker hastily imparted to Mrs. Love a few final sentiments on the subject of Divine Intention in the disposition of buckets; farewells and last commiserations; a deep, guttural instigation to the horse; and the wheels of the waggonette crunched heavily away into obscurity. 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
To emit a grinding or crunching noise.
There were sounds in the air above his head – sounds of the crunching and rattling of the loose, smooth stones as his neighbors moved about[…] 1849, Henry James, Confidence:
(transitive) To cause the gears to emit a crunching sound by releasing the clutch before the gears are properly synchronised.
(transitive) To compress (data) using a particular algorithm, so that it can be restored by decrunching.
PackIt will not crunch executables, unless told to do so. 1993, Michael Barsoom, “[comp.sys.amiga.announce] PackIt Announcement”, in comp.archives (Usenet):
(slang, transitive) To make employees work overtime in order to meet a deadline in the development of a project.
de knuspern (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · de kalkulieren (slang: to calculate or otherwise process) · it croccare (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · it masticare (slang: to calculate or otherwise process) · it scricchiolare (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ml കൊറിക്കുക (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · fi murskata (slang: to calculate or otherwise process) · mi karihi (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · fr compiler (slang: to calculate or otherwise process) · is bryðja (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ru хрусте́ть (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · sv krossas (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · de durchrechnen (slang: to calculate or otherwise process) · sv krossa (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ar جَرَشَ (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · da knase (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · es hacer trabajar contra el reloj (to make employees work overtime in order to meet a deadline) · it sgranocchiare (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · bg хрускам (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · de zermalmen (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · fi narskua (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · el ροκανίζω (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · it spiaccicarsi (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · es crujir (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ru хрусте́ть (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · da knase (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · kw densel (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · de knirschen (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · sk pučiť (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · ro trosni (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · fi rouskuttaa (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · sk chrúmať (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · pl chrupnąć (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · fr croquer (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · eo kraki (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · pl chrupać (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · cs chroustat (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · az xırtıldamaq (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ru хру́стнуть (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · fi ratista (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · az xırçıldamaq (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ro scârțâi (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · es ronzar (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · sv knastra (to be crushed with a noisy crackling sound) · el τρίζω (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound) · ru хру́стнуть (to crush something with a noisy crackling sound)