Home / Dictionary / Crush

Crush Very Common

Crush has 14 different meanings across 2 categories:

Noun · Verb

Definitions
Noun
1

leather that has had its grain pattern accentuated

"The designer chose a new bag made of crushed velvet to give it a textured, deep appearance."

2

a dense crowd of people

"The fans began to push and shove in the crush, making it impossible to move forward."

3

temporary love of an adolescent

"After months of writing letters, she finally confessed her infatuation to him."

4

the act of crushing

"The heavy machinery caused a massive crush on the building's foundation during the storm."

5

A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.

"The sudden gust of wind crushed the fragile glass window into a thousand shards."

In plain English: A crush is when you have strong romantic feelings for someone but don't necessarily tell them yet.

"The heavy snowfall caused a massive traffic crush on the highway bridge."

Usage: Use "crush" as a noun when referring specifically to a violent physical collision that causes severe damage or total collapse. This term is often confused with similar words like "smash," but it emphasizes the complete reduction of an object into fragments rather than just breaking it apart.

Verb
1

come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority

"The government oppresses political activists"

2

to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition

"crush an aluminum can"

"squeeze a lemon"

3

come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

"Agassi beat Becker in the tennis championship"

"We beat the competition"

"Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game"

4

break into small pieces

"The car crushed the toy"

5

humiliate or depress completely

"She was crushed by his refusal of her invitation"

"The death of her son smashed her"

6

crush or bruise

"jam a toe"

7

make ineffective

"Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination"

8

become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure

"The plastic bottle crushed against the wall"

9

To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity of it, or to force together into a mass.

"The heavy machinery crushed the old car until it was nothing but a twisted mass of metal."

In plain English: To crush something means to squeeze it so hard that it breaks into pieces.

"The student crushed her pencil by squeezing it too hard during the test."

Example Sentences
"The heavy snowfall caused a massive traffic crush on the highway bridge." noun
"The student crushed her pencil by squeezing it too hard during the test." verb
"I need to crush this project before the deadline today." verb
"She loved to crush vegetables in her salad." verb
"He managed to crush his opponent in the boxing match." verb
Related Terms
Broader Terms (hypernyms)
leather crowd love compression press get the better of break up humiliate bruise change break
Narrower Terms (hyponyms)
traffic jam grind repress wring stamp steamroller tread telescope outpoint walk over eliminate worst whomp get the best spread-eagle get the jump cheat surpass overcome outdo outfight overpower checkmate immobilize outplay cream bruise

Origin

The word "crush" comes from Middle English, where it originally meant to smash or squeeze something. Its roots trace back through Old French and Late Latin to a Frankish language that shared the same meaning of crushing or grinding.

Rhyming Words
ush rush dush hush tush kush cush mush gush push lush bush smush brush ayush slush stush flush arush plush
Compare
Crush vs