crunch

The word “crunch” means to crush something noisily, especially food, making a crackling sound. In plain terms, covers the crackling sound of biting or crushing something, and by extension a tense make-or-break moment or period of intense work.

“Crunch” is pronounced kruhnch (/kɹʌnt͡ʃ/ in IPA).

Here is “crunch” used in a sentence: “He crunched loudly on an apple during the meeting.”

Words with a similar meaning to “crunch” include hashtag, number sign and pound sign.

Depending on how it is used, “crunch” can be a verb and a noun.

“Crunch” is an uncommon word in modern English.

“Crunch” has 5 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: to crush something noisily, especially food, making a crackling sound.

Crush simply means to press or squeeze something forcefully, while crunch specifically implies crushing something with a distinctive crackling or crackling sound, especially when biting or stepping on it. Not all crushing makes a crunch, but all crunching involves some form of crushing.

To crunch numbers or data means to process large amounts of information, typically through calculation or analysis, drawing on the idea of forcefully working through a large quantity of material. This figurative use extends the physical crushing sense of crunch to intellectual or computational work.

Crunch, or crunch time, refers to a period of mandatory overtime that developers work through before a deadline, often involving long hours and high pressure. The term reflects the broader sense of crunch as a critical, high-pressure moment requiring intense effort.