crush

CEFRB1

/kɹʌʃ/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To press or squeeze something until it breaks or loses its shape.

  2. 02

    noun

    A strong but usually short-lived romantic feeling.

Examples

  • Crush the can before you throw it away.

  • I wish people would stop saying things in ways that crush young dreams.

At a glance

Sits at B1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. A violent crowding.

  2. Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd.

noun

Extra meaning

  1. A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.

More examples

In context

  • Lucy's innocent crush turned into an obsession.

  • He took his crush out for dinner.

  • I've had a huge crush on her since we met many years ago.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The heavy machine will blank the cans into flat metal sheets.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to crush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, grind, strike, smash”). Cognate with Middle Low German tôkrosten (“to crush, shatter”), Swedish krysta (“to squeeze”), Danish kryste (“to squash”), Icelandic kreista (“to squeeze, squash”), Faroese kroysta (“to squeeze”), Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to gnash”). Akin also to Middle Dutch crosen (“to bruise, crush”), Middle Low German krossen, krö̂sen, tôkrö̂sen (“to break, shatter”), Old Swedish krusa (“to crush”).