1
as in shortage
a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number
a severe energy crunch that resulted in long lines at the gas pumps
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
a player who's always good in a crunch, like when we need a goal to win the soccer match
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crunch
Daryl Austin, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025
People in their 20s should be able to do 40 to 50 crunches.
—Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Mar. 2025
Emergency physicians from the University of Vermont and the medical staff at Aconcagua Provincial Park, led by Vermont’s Andrew Park, crunched the data on all climbers diagnosed with HAPE during the month of January in 2024 and compared their responses to climbers who didn’t get HAPE.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crunch
Noun
Modified crunches can work additional muscle groups.
—Daryl Austin, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2025
People in their 20s should be able to do 40 to 50 crunches.
—Melissa Rudy, FOXNews.com, 31 Mar. 2025
Verb
Beyond being well-balanced nutritionally and scrape-the-plate tasty (thanks to the sweet-and-salty peanut sauce), this is one of the best high-protein dinner ideas when you’re crunched for time.
—Karla Walsh, Better Homes & Gardens, 12 Mar. 2025
Emergency physicians from the University of Vermont and the medical staff at Aconcagua Provincial Park, led by Vermont’s Andrew Park, crunched the data on all climbers diagnosed with HAPE during the month of January in 2024 and compared their responses to climbers who didn’t get HAPE.
—Alex Hutchinson, Outside Online, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for crunch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunch
Noun
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With entire flocks culled to prevent the spread of the virus, the egg supply has been strained, leading to shortages in stores and inflated costs for consumers.—
Claire Malon,
Chicago Tribune,
11 Apr. 2025
-
The fortunate news, again, is that a widespread shortage is not expected.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
11 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
The biggest challenges facing Fort Worth include the hiring of a new police chief during a mental health crisis that law enforcement is failing to address effectively.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
20 Apr. 2025
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The team averted a crisis on beam, with junior Jordan Bowers delivering a stellar routine after a fall from the prior athlete.—
Caroline Price,
Forbes.com,
19 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Then there’s Little Simz, who’s turning growth and grit into poetry on Lotus.—
Okla Jones,
Essence,
29 Mar. 2025
-
To become winners, Newcastle have had lose, both historically and this season, and Guimaraes has been required to grit his teeth and battle through.—
George Caulkin,
The Athletic,
24 Mar. 2025
Noun
-
His quickness getting across the crease, his evident athleticism, more than made up for any lack of experience.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
20 Apr. 2025
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But, sadly, because bathrooms are such high-moisture rooms with a lack of ventilation, mold is easy to grow.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
19 Apr. 2025
Noun
-
Delimitros said one of the truck’s side view mirrors struck her in the head, causing minor injuries.—
David Hernandez,
sandiegouniontribune.com,
19 July 2017
-
Cal Fire representatives said the current parking mess has already impacted them because the driveway to their station enters the highway not far from the trail head.—
J. Harry Jones,
Ramona Sentinel,
19 July 2017
Verb
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Set up your agent to scrape competitor data, log changes to a spreadsheet, and send you only the high-impact alerts.—
Jodie Cook,
Forbes.com,
7 Apr. 2025
-
On Tuesday, the Wikimedia Foundation announced that relentless AI scraping is putting strain on Wikipedia's servers.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
2 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Some people may have been scratching their heads when kids started screaming and crying after seeing a pig wearing a crown; With zombie pig men and skeleton archers riding spiders, why would this specific creature elicit such a guttural reaction?—
Issy van der Velde,
Rolling Stone,
9 Apr. 2025
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The Cougars had turnovers prior to that possession, but the fact that no shot went up near the final buzzer had many scratching their heads as to what Houston was thinking.—
Scott Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
8 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crunch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunch. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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