# crash

Pronunciation: say "KRASH" /kɹæʃ/

## Noun

1. An accident in which a car, airplane, or other vehicle collides with something or wrecks.
   - Simple: An accident in which a car, plane, or other vehicle hits something or is badly damaged.
   - _The plane crash killed everyone on board._
   - _Investigators spent weeks studying what caused the crash._
4. A sudden, large fall in business activity or stock prices, often setting off further failures.
   - Simple: A sudden, big drop in business or in the price of stocks.
   - _The 1929 crash plunged the country into a long depression._
   - _Investors feared another crash as prices kept sliding._
6. A malfunction of computer software or hardware that causes it to stop working or shut down.
   - Simple: A problem that makes a computer or program stop working.
   - _The crash forced everyone to reboot their machines._
   - _The update fixed a crash that hit whenever users opened very large spreadsheets._
10. A sudden, intense, loud sound, such as the one cymbals make.
   - Simple: A sudden, very loud noise, like the sound of cymbals.
   - _A sudden crash of cymbals ended the symphony._
   - _The vase fell and shattered with a tremendous crash._
14. An unpleasant comedown experienced as a drug's effects wear off. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The low, unpleasant feeling that comes when a drug wears off.
   - _Many users dread the crash that arrives hours after the high._
   - _The post-caffeine crash hit her around midafternoon._
15. A sudden steep fall in the population of a species or other kind of organism, which can sometimes lead to its extinction.
   - Simple: A fast, large drop in the number of living things of one kind.
   - _Biologists recorded a dramatic crash in the frog population that year._
   - _Repeated population crashes pushed the species toward extinction._
16. A group of rhinoceroses moving or resting together.
   - Simple: A group of rhinoceroses gathered together.
   - _A crash of rhinoceroses thundered across the savanna at dusk._
   - _Rangers counted twelve animals in the crash that morning._

## Verb

2. Of a vehicle, person, or object, to hit something or the ground hard or fall violently, often so that it is damaged or wrecked, or to make a vehicle do this.
   - Simple: To hit something or fall hard, often causing damage, or to make a car or plane do this.
   - _The drone crashed when its battery suddenly died._
   - _Heavy branches can crash onto parked cars during a bad storm._
3. Of a computer or program, to stop working suddenly because of an error, or to make one do this.
   - Simple: When a computer or app suddenly stops working because something went wrong, or to make it do that.
   - _The browser crashed when it ran out of memory._
   - _Poorly written programs crash whenever they hit unexpected input._
5. To take a sudden and severe turn for the worse; to deteriorate rapidly and catastrophically.
   - Simple: To suddenly get much worse or fail completely.
   - _Her grades crashed after she started working night shifts._
   - _When demand disappears overnight, whole industries crash._
7. To strike something forcefully and with great impact.
   - Simple: To hit or strike something with great force.
   - _The shortstop crashed a double off the left-field wall to score two runs._
   - _The striker can crash a shot into the top corner from well outside the box._
8. To go to sleep, especially suddenly from tiredness, or to spend the night somewhere informally, such as on a friend's couch. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To go to sleep, especially when you are very tired, or to sleep at someone's place for a night.
   - _He crashed early after working a double shift._
   - _After the marathon, runners often crash for the rest of the day._
9. Short for gatecrash: to attend a party or other event without being invited or without paying. *(slang)* — Ellipsis of gatecrash.
   - Simple: Short form of gatecrash. It means to join a party or event you were not invited to.
   - _A dozen students crashed the senior prom before being thrown out._
   - _Reporters tried to crash the closed-door meeting._
11. To make a sudden, sharp, very loud noise.
   - Simple: To suddenly make a very loud, banging noise.
   - _Cymbals crash to mark the climax of the piece._
   - _Thunder crashed overhead, and the lights in the old farmhouse flickered._
13. To sink into depression or lethargy after a period of euphoria, especially once a drug's high has worn off.
   - Simple: To feel very low or tired after a happy or excited time, especially after a drug wears off.
   - _Users often crash badly once the stimulant leaves their system._
   - _Once the thrill of opening night wore off, the whole cast seemed to crash at the same time._

## Adjective

12. Done quickly and intensively over a short period, often on short notice.
   - Simple: Done very quickly and with great effort in a short time.
   - _The team put together a crash program to fix the bug._
   - _Engineers launched a crash effort to rebuild the bridge._

## Other meanings

- (verb) To speed up a project, task, or schedule by assigning extra resources to it.
- (verb) To hand something over to someone as a favor.
- (verb) To take a subject at a higher level without having studied it at a lower level first.
- (noun) A coarse, rough type of linen fabric.

## Origin

From Middle English crasshen ("to break into pieces"), of uncertain origin. It may come from a variant of crasen ("to break") with a formative suffix, or from a variant of craken ("to crack, break open").

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/crash (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).