crush

Formscrushes, crushing, crushed

Pluralcrushes

1. 1
   squashverbtransitive or intransitive

   To press something hard so that it is squeezed out of shape or flattened, or to be squashed in this way.

   The cardboard box crushed flat under the heavy load.

   Aluminum cans crush easily when you step on them.

   UsageOften with easily or a result word: cans crush easily, the box crushed flat.

   Similarsquash, flatten, crumple, compress

   Note

   Here the thing crushed is the subject, and nothing names what crushes it: an eggshell crushes easily.

2. 2
   grindverbtransitive

   To grind or pound a substance until it becomes a powder or tiny fragments.

   Workers crush the ore into a fine powder before smelting.

   The old mill crushed the grain into flour.

   UsageThe result follows into or to: crushed into flour, crushed to powder.

   Similargrind, pound

   Note

   Crushing taken to its end, where what had a shape becomes powder: crush quartz, crush ore. Its formal equivalent is comminute. The result is usually named with to, as in crushed to powder, or in Edgar Rice Burroughs's "Tarzan of the Apes" (1912), a skull crushed to a jelly. Source

   Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 2 facts

   • Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote Tarzan of the Apes. gutenberg.org
   • The novel describes a skull crushed to a jelly. gutenberg.org
3. 3
   liking someonenouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

   A romantic infatuation with someone you are not dating.

   He developed a crush on his coworker over the summer.

   Her teenage crush faded once she actually got to know him.

   UsageYou have or develop a crush on someone: a crush on her teacher.

   Similarinfatuation

   Note

   Size and age modify it freely, as in a huge crush or a schoolgirl crush, and both lean toward the one-sided and the passing. Emma Lea's A Royal Enticement (2019) has a narrator resolve to get her schoolgirl crush under control. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact

   • Emma Lea wrote A Royal Enticement, which contains first-person narration about getting a schoolgirl crush under control. en.wiktionary.org
4. 4
   defeatverbtransitive

   To overcome an opponent or force completely, leaving no resistance.

   Government forces crushed the uprising within a week.

   A determined coalition can crush even an entrenched regime.

   UsageCommon with rebellion, uprising, and opposition. In sports, it means to win by a large margin.

   Similardefeat, suppress, quell, overwhelm, rout

5. 5
   deeply upsetverbfigurativelytransitive

   To overwhelm or oppress someone, as if under a heavy weight, emotionally or with burdens.

   The weight of expectation can crush even talented performers.

   He was crushed by the news of the layoffs.

   UsageOften passive: was crushed by the news. You can also say felt crushed.

   Similaroverwhelm, devastate, shatter, oppress, break

   Oppositeencourage, hearten, uplift, cheer

6. 6
   person you likenouncolloquialcountable or uncountable

   The person who is the object of someone's romantic infatuation.

   He spent the whole dance hoping his crush would notice him.

   Years later, she ran into her high school crush at a reunion.

   UsageUsed with a possessive and no on: my crush, her high school crush.

   Note

   Chris Wallace's Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage (2004) has Truman finally winning the hand of his boyhood Sunday school crush, which means a girl, not a mood. Source

   Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 2 facts

   • Chris Wallace wrote Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage. booknotes.c-span.org
   • The cited passage describes Truman winning the hand of his boyhood Sunday school crush, referring to a person. en.wiktionary.org
7. 7
   be into someoneverbtransitive or intransitive

   To feel infatuation or unrequited love for someone.

   By tenth grade she had crushed on two classmates without ever telling them.

   Teenagers often crush from afar, too nervous to speak up.

   UsageMost often crush on someone, frequently in the -ing form: she's crushing on him.

   Note

   It shares its preposition with the noun: she's crushing on him. It also runs transitive with no on at all, as in Aaron Carter's "Aaron's Party (Come Get It)" (2000), where the girl is the direct object of the singer's crushing. Often progressive, it can be played for comedy, as in Sarra Manning's Diary of a Crush (2004): "I crush, therefore I am."

8. 8
   do very wellverbcolloquialfigurativelytransitive

   To perform impressively well at something, such as a game, performance, or interview.

   He absolutely crushed the job interview and got the offer.

   He was nervous before the audition, but his coach knew he would crush it.

   Similarace, nail, smash

   Oppositeflunk, bomb, botch

   Note

   Unlike the sense of subduing an opponent, no one has to lose. What gets crushed is the task itself.

9. 9
   packed crowdnouncountable or uncountable

   A dense crowd of people pressed tightly together, or the dangerous pressure such a crowd creates.

   Commuters were swept along by the crush on the platform.

   In the crush outside the theater, friends quickly lost sight of one another.

   UsageCommon patterns include in the crush and a crush of people.

   Similarcrowd, throng, press

Showing meanings only. Show all 20