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 deficiency, dearth, deficit, drought (also drouth), failure, famine, inadequacy, inadequateness, insufficiency, lack, lacuna, paucity, pinch, poverty, scantiness, scarceness, scarcity, shortage, undersupply, wantRelated Words absence, omission; meagerness, poorness, skimpiness; necessity, need, privationNear Antonyms bountifulness, copiousness; excess, overabundance, oversupply, surfeit, surplusAntonyms 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), emergency, crunch time, Dunkirk, exigency, extremity, flash point, head, juncture, tinderbox, zero hourRelated 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