crunch

crunch

noun

Definition of CRUNCH

1

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number <a severe energy crunch that resulted in long lines at the gas pumps>

Synonyms crunch, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, want

Related Words absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privation

Near Antonyms bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplus

Antonyms abundance, adequacy, amplitude, opulence, plenitude, plenty, sufficiency, wealth

2

a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action <a player who's always good in a crunch, like when we need a goal to win the soccer match>

Synonyms boiling point, breaking point, clutch, conjuncture, crisis, crossroad(s), crunch, crunch time, Dunkirk, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, tinderbox, zero hour

Related Words contingency, possibility; climax, turning point; happening, landmark, milestone; condition, pass, situation, strait; deadlock, impasse, stalemate; corner, fix, hole, hot water, jam, last ditch, pinch, predicament, scrape, spot; eleventh hour, last minute