crush
Verbcrushes, crushing, crushed
Noun pluralcrushes
Formscrushes, crushing, crushed
Pluralcrushes
- 1
- 2
- 3A strong but often secret liking for someone you are not dating.
Like having a secret favorite person who makes your heart beat faster.
She has a crush on the boy who sits next to her.
His crush on the new student made him nervous all week.
UsageSay you have a crush on someone.
Similarinfatuation
Note
- 4To beat someone or something so completely that they cannot fight back.
Like a strong team that beats every other team with ease.
The army crushed the rebellion in just a few days.
Their team can crush almost any opponent at home.
UsageSay the army crushed the rebellion.
- 5To make someone feel very sad or weighed down, or to treat them very harshly.
Like feeling so much worry that it presses down on you.
The bad news seemed to crush him entirely.
She was crushed when she failed the final test.
UsageSay you were crushed when something very sad happened.
- 6The person you have a crush on.
Like the one person you most hope will smile at you.
My crush sits two rows ahead of me in class.
She finally talked to her crush at the party.
UsageSay my crush for the person you like.
Note
- 7To feel a strong romantic liking for someone who may not feel the same.
Like secretly hoping your favorite person will notice you.
Lots of kids crush on a classmate and feel too shy to say anything.
She has been crushing on a boy in her math class.
UsageSay she is crushing on a boy.
Note
- 8
- 9
Less common meanings
- 10A sweet drink made from the juice of squeezed fruit.
Like fresh juice you make by pressing fruit.
The café sells a cold berry crush made with fresh fruit.
He ordered a lemon crush at the corner stall.
UsageSay lemon crush or berry crush.
Similarjuice
Note
- 11
- 12A narrow cage with movable sides that holds a farm animal still for safe handling.
Like a snug pen that keeps an animal from moving.
The vet examined the bull while it stood in the crush.
They guided each cow into the crush before tagging it.
- 13The work of pressing sugar cane to get the raw sugar out, or the season when the pressing takes place.
The mill runs day and night during the crush.
The sugar mill runs day and night during the crush.
UsageSay during the crush.
Note
- 14A heavy blow or smash that breaks or destroys something.
- 15A group of people, or a gang.
Then there was another set who called themselves the "Ragged Thirteen"; and the account says "they looked it." And, like most diggers, this "crush," to quote my authority, could handle the cards a bit.
1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging - 16A barrier that holds back or guides a crowd of people.
- 17When colors on a screen look so alike that you cannot tell them apart.
- 18To make colors on a screen look so alike that you cannot tell them apart.
- 19To make something on screen look squashed or shorter than it really is.
- 20A sexual interest in watching things being crushed or smashed.
Showing meanings only.
Practice
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Origin
It came through Middle English and Old French words for "to crush," going back to a Frankish and older Germanic root meaning to crush, grind, or smash.
Checked 31 Oct 2026 · 3 facts
- Crush came through Middle English and Old French verbs meaning to crush. en.wiktionary.org
- The Old French word traces back to a Frankish verb meaning to crush. en.wiktionary.org
- The ancestry extends to a Proto-Germanic root meaning to crush, grind, or smash. en.wiktionary.org