Library / English Dictionary

CRUSH

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

The act of crushing

Synonyms:

compaction; crunch; crush

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("crush" is a kind of...):

compressing; compression (applying pressure)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crush"):

grind; mill; pulverisation; pulverization (the act of grinding to a powder or dust)

Derivation:

crush (break into small pieces)

crush (to compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Temporary love of an adolescent

Synonyms:

calf love; crush; infatuation; puppy love

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Hypernyms ("crush" is a kind of...):

love (a strong positive emotion of regard and affection)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A dense crowd of people

Synonyms:

crush; jam; press

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("crush" is a kind of...):

crowd (a large number of things or people considered together)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "crush"):

snarl-up; traffic jam (a number of vehicles blocking one another until they can scarcely move)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Leather that has had its grain pattern accentuated

Synonyms:

crush; crushed leather

Classified under:

Nouns denoting substances

Hypernyms ("crush" is a kind of...):

leather (an animal skin made smooth and flexible by removing the hair and then tanning)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Break into small pieces

Example:

The car crushed the toy

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

break up; fragment; fragmentise; fragmentize (break or cause to break into pieces)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crush"):

bruise (break up into small pieces for food preparation)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sentence example:

They crush the glass tubes

Derivation:

crush (the act of crushing)

crusher (a device that crushes something)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure

Example:

The plastic bottle crushed against the wall

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

break; come apart; fall apart; separate; split up (become separated into pieces or fragments)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The glass tubes crush

Sense 3

Meaning:

Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict

Example:

Harvard defeated Yale in the last football game

Synonyms:

beat; beat out; crush; shell; trounce; vanquish

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

defeat; get the better of; overcome (win a victory over)

"Crush" entails doing...:

win (be the winner in a contest or competition; be victorious)

Verb group:

beat; circumvent; outfox; outsmart; outwit; overreach (beat through cleverness and wit)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crush"):

bat; clobber; cream; drub; lick; thrash (beat thoroughly and conclusively in a competition or fight)

outplay (excel or defeat in a game)

immobilise; immobilize (make defenseless)

checkmate; mate (place an opponent's king under an attack from which it cannot escape and thus ending the game)

overmaster; overpower; overwhelm (overcome by superior force)

outfight (to fight better than; get the better of)

best; outdo; outflank; scoop; trump (get the better of)

get over; master; overcome; subdue; surmount (get on top of; deal with successfully)

exceed; outdo; outgo; outmatch; outperform; outstrip; surmount; surpass (be or do something to a greater degree)

cheat; chicane; chouse; jockey; screw; shaft (defeat someone through trickery or deceit)

get the jump (be there first)

rout; spread-eagle; spreadeagle (defeat disastrously)

get the best; have the best; overcome (overcome, usually through no fault or weakness of the person that is overcome)

whomp (beat overwhelmingly)

mop up; pip; rack up; whip; worst (defeat thoroughly)

eliminate (remove from a contest or race)

walk over (beat easily)

outpoint; outscore (score more points than one's opponents)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The fighter managed to crush his opponent

Sense 4

Meaning:

Make ineffective

Example:

Martin Luther King tried to break down racial discrimination

Synonyms:

break down; crush

Classified under:

Verbs of fighting, athletic activities

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

alter; change; modify (cause to change; make different; cause a transformation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 5

Meaning:

Crush or bruise

Example:

jam a toe

Synonyms:

crush; jam

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

bruise; contuse (injure the underlying soft tissue or bone of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 6

Meaning:

To compress with violence, out of natural shape or condition

Example:

squeeze a lemon

Synonyms:

crush; mash; squash; squeeze; squelch

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

press (exert pressure or force to or upon)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crush"):

wring (twist, squeeze, or compress in order to extract liquid)

stamp (crush or grind with a heavy instrument)

steamroller (crush with a steamroller as if to level)

tread (crush as if by treading on)

telescope (crush together or collapse)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

crush (the act of crushing)

crusher (a device that crushes something)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Humiliate or depress completely

Example:

The death of her son smashed her

Synonyms:

crush; smash

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Hypernyms (to "crush" is one way to...):

abase; chagrin; humble; humiliate; mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sentence example:

The bad news will crush him

Sense 8

Meaning:

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

Example:

The government oppresses political activists

Synonyms:

crush; oppress; suppress

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crush"):

keep down; quash; reduce; repress; subdue; subjugate (put down by force or intimidation)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

crushing (forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority)

Credits

 Context examples: 

In crushing his passions he had well-nigh crushed himself.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The crush will, it is said, exceed anything ever known.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We are still surrounded by mountains of ice, still in imminent danger of being crushed in their conflict.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

The researchers induced optic nerve damage in mice using forceps to crush the optic nerve of one eye just behind the eyeball.

(Visual activity regenerates neural connections between eye and brain, NIH)

Neutron stars are the crushed, leftover cores of massive stars that previously exploded as supernovas long ago.

(NASA Missions Catch First Light from a Gravitational-Wave Event, NASA)

It has a crushing carbon dioxide atmosphere 90 times as thick as Earth’s.

(NASA Climate Modeling Suggests Venus May Have Been Habitable, NASA)

The planet, Gliese 3470 b (also known as GJ 3470 b), may be a cross between Earth and Neptune, with a large rocky core buried under a deep, crushing hydrogen-and-helium atmosphere.

(Atmosphere of Midsize Planet Revealed by Hubble, Spitzer, NASA)

It happens when an injury crushes small blood vessels but does not break the skin.

(Bruises, NIH)

The process by which food is torn or crushed by the teeth.

(Mastication, NCI Thesaurus)

The liquid produced by squeezing or crushing a fruit or vegetable.

(Juice, NCI Thesaurus)