▪ I. crunch, v.
(krʌnʃ)
[A recent variation of cranch, craunch, perhaps intended to express a more subdued and less obtrusive sound, perh. influenced by association with crush, munch.]
1. trans. To crush with the teeth (a thing somewhat firm and brittle); to chew or bite with a crushing noise.
| 1814 Suppl. Grose's Provinc. Gloss., Crunch, Cronch, and Cranch, to crush an apple, etc. in the mouth. North. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra II. 201 ‘While I was quietly crunching my crust.’ 1859 Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 202 A herd of swine crunching acorns. |
b. intr. or absol.
| 1816 Byron Siege Cor. xvi, Their white tusks crunch'd o'er the whiter skull. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. II. x. 101 Our appetites were good; and..we crunched away right merrily. |
2. trans. To crush or grind under foot, wheels, etc., with the accompanying noise.
| 1849 C. Brontë Shirley ii. 24 A sound of heavy wheels crunching a stony road. 1873 Spectator 23 Aug. 1069/1 You crunch little heaps of salt at every step. |
b. intr. or absol. c. intr. for refl.
| 1801 Southey Thalaba viii. xxii, No sound but the wild, wild wind, And the snow crunching under his feet! 1880 Blackw. Mag. Apr. 452 The animal's hoofs crunch on the stones and gravel. |
3. intr. To advance, or make one's way, with crunching.
| 1853 Kane Grinnell Exp. xxiii. (1856) 189 The sound of our vessel crunching her way through the ice. 1856 ― Arct. Expl. I. iv. 38 Our brig went crunching through all this jewelry. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 109 As we crunched and crawled up the long gravelly hills. |
Hence crunched ppl. a., ˈcrunching vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1840 Lytton Pilgr. of Rhine xix, The crunched boughs..that strewed the soil. 1848 C. Brontë J. Eyre xviii. (D.), A crunching of wheels..became audible on the wet gravel. 1890 Century Mag. Apr. 916/2 Passing a rim of crunching cinder. |
▪ II. crunch, n. (and a.)
[f. prec.]
A. n.
1. a. An act, or the action, of crunching.
| 1836 Marryat Midsh. Easy xvii. 56 If you will not take us, the sharks shall—it is but a crunch, and all is over. 1856 Kane Arct. Expl. I. xxvii. 361 Listening to the half-yielding crunch of the ice beneath. 1867 Baker Nile Tribut. ii, The hippo..caught him in its mouth and killed him by one crunch. |
b. A crisis; a decisive point, event, confrontation, etc.; a show-down; esp. in phr. to come to the crunch: to come to the point; to reach a show-down.
| 1939 W. S. Churchill in Daily Tel. 23 Feb. 14/6 Whether Spain will be allowed to find its way back to sanity and health..depends..upon the general adjustment or outcome of the European crunch. 1948 ― 2nd World War I. i. xvii. 243 When the imminence of an attack on Czechoslovakia became clear, Beck demanded an assurance against further military adventures. Here was a crunch. 1957 Economist 28 Sept. 1002/1 What Sir Winston Churchill would have called the ‘crunch’ of the economic battle has arrived. Ibid. 19 Oct. 200/1 No one is anxious to be the spearhead of the next wages struggle; and..the crunch may not be reached until some time after the turn of the new year. 1960 Times 21 July 15/5 Even the holders of Government bonds turn out to be chiefly philanthropic institutions and trade unions when it comes to the crunch. 1963 ‘W. Haggard’ High Wire v. 52 When it came to the crunch de Fleury wasn't to be relied on. 1969 ‘J. Fraser’ Cock-pit of Roses xv. 111 Now the crunch. ‘How do you know, Andrew?..’ No reply. |
c. The principal problem; a sticking-point, an issue which gives rise to conflict or crisis. colloq.
| 1970 Telegraph (Brisbane) 20 Feb. 11/5 The chihuahua has vanished... The crunch is that the chihuahua belongs to the boss's wife. 1970 New Scientist 23 July 171/1 The real crunch is that there may never be any profits from the RB211-2Z. 1977 Time Out 28 Jan. 5/1 First crunch for the case against Mark was that he didn't write the story. 1985 C. McCullough Creed for Third Millennium v. 135 The real crunch had become the length of time the ground remained unfrozen, but in future years it was likely to become the amount of rain. |
2. pl. Small pieces resulting from crunching. rare.
| 1833 Moir Mansie Wauch xxiii. (1849) 181 [He] had his pipe smashed to crunches. |
B. attrib. or as adj. Critical, decisive, crucial; involving or arising from a crisis. colloq.
| 1974 Courier-Mail (Brisbane) 15 Aug. 4/3 Townley continues to vote Liberal on most crunch issues. 1977 Sunday Mail (Brisbane) 17 July 1/10 The president of Houston Oil and Mineral..will arrive..today for crunch talks on the controversial Oaky Creek coal project. 1981 G. Boycott In Fast Lane ix. 74 If we were to save the match it would have to be through our own efforts, and the crunch period was approaching fast. 1985 Times 19 Jan. 1/2, I believe we are in crunch times. |
▸ = abdominal crunch n. at abdominal adj. and n. Additions.
| 1983 Daily Herald (Chicago) 6 July (Fun & Fitness News Suppl.) 5/2 The exercises that I, personally, recommend are crunches, bent leg sit-ups, leg lifts, and the Nautilus abdominal machine. 1996 She Apr. 39/1 If you're a complete beginner or have back problems, do crunches instead—these are just like sit-ups but you come up only a third of the way. 2004 J. Dickinson Everything about me is Fake xxi. 203 I'd done enough crunches at the gym to crunch a little at the buffet line. |