1
as in shortages
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 & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in crises
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 & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crunches
Danielle Zickl, Health, 30 Oct. 2025
The shutdown has compounded long-standing issues at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has grappled with significant staffing crunches for years.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
McGee led me through moves like Pilates 100s, crunches with rows, and full crunches (with my legs extended).
—Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 17 Oct. 2025
No leverage amplifying losses, no management teams making allocation decisions, no complex redemption mechanisms creating liquidity crunches.
—Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2025
During times of stress, sudden retail redemptions could force asset sales at discounts, triggering liquidity crunches and pricing shocks in what have generally been stable markets.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2025
Supply-chain crunches slowed key technologies.
—Justin Worland, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Colorado policymakers, after several flush years following the pandemic, have faced a series of fiscal crunches over the past year.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Time crunches led the team of four — including production assistant Chaandmon Croft — to streamline the pilot process so other departments could quickly work with material amassed between takes that could start and restart from various points in a song.
—Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Averi Baudler, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Nguyen Nik Bonitto shoves the Jets' left tackle back into Justin Fields and Zach Allen crunches him from the interior on that third-down floater.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
Noun
Experts say a mix of planks and crunches offers the best results for both strength and visible ab tone.
—Danielle Zickl, Health, 30 Oct. 2025
The shutdown has compounded long-standing issues at the Federal Aviation Administration, which has grappled with significant staffing crunches for years.
—Zachary Schermele, USA Today, 26 Oct. 2025
McGee led me through moves like Pilates 100s, crunches with rows, and full crunches (with my legs extended).
—Maggie Ryan, Flow Space, 17 Oct. 2025
No leverage amplifying losses, no management teams making allocation decisions, no complex redemption mechanisms creating liquidity crunches.
—Boaz Sobrado, Forbes.com, 6 Oct. 2025
During times of stress, sudden retail redemptions could force asset sales at discounts, triggering liquidity crunches and pricing shocks in what have generally been stable markets.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2025
Supply-chain crunches slowed key technologies.
—Justin Worland, Time, 23 Sep. 2025
Colorado policymakers, after several flush years following the pandemic, have faced a series of fiscal crunches over the past year.
—Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 22 Sep. 2025
Time crunches led the team of four — including production assistant Chaandmon Croft — to streamline the pilot process so other departments could quickly work with material amassed between takes that could start and restart from various points in a song.
—Abbey White, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2025
Verb
Each year, Google crunches the numbers to identify the items that were highly searched, newly searched, or trending for a period of time from May to September.
—Averi Baudler, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025
Nguyen Nik Bonitto shoves the Jets' left tackle back into Justin Fields and Zach Allen crunches him from the interior on that third-down floater.
—Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunches
Noun
-
China’s apparent surge in missile production comes as the US expends sophisticated defense systems in Ukraine and Israel, causing some ammunition shortages and sparking debate in Washington about how and where to deploy its high-end weapons.—
Tamara Qiblawi,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
-
When staffing shortages occur, the FAA will reduce the flow of air traffic to maintain safety.—
Joe Edwards,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Noun
-
Every dollar spent on preventing extreme hunger saves many more that might have to be disbursed in response to crises.—
ARIF HUSAIN,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Nov. 2025
-
Darlene Greene, a member of the town council representing a tract in West Altadena, told me that the ordeal of rebuilding had driven some of her constituents into mental-health crises.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Nobody catches it for week, until someone scrapes customer addresses and posts them online.—
Daniel Fusch,
Ascend Agency,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Injuries can occur when the person scrapes over the rocks.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
So Vegas has to hope that their forward depth is strong enough to balance out where their star power lacks, relative to other contenders.—
The Athletic NHL,
New York Times,
2 Oct. 2025
-
This absence — of God, of love, of plain community spirit — is a metaphor for the whole parish, where everyone is defined by their own lacks and deficiencies, the weaknesses that cause Wicks to despise them and vow to bring down them all.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
6 Sep. 2025
Noun
-
New York is a crossroads for them at the edge of the continent, like a traffic circle with east-west routes running along the ocean or north-south routes going up the harbor or to New Jersey.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
4 Nov. 2025
-
The crossroads sustainable fashion now finds itself at could rebalance trust in green claims, giving companies with less genuine impact investment an easy way out, Allweiss says, and making space for the truly committed to step up and be properly acknowledged.—
Bella Webb,
Vogue,
30 Oct. 2025
Noun
-
That show aired in 2019, however, three years prior to Gunn and Safran’s appointment as the heads of DC’s film and TV business.—
Joe Otterson,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
-
Our production assistants, Ava Megna and Sylvia Lovegren, along with the agent Harry Ufland, had arranged a screening at MGM for the heads of the Cannes Film Festival.—
Robbie Robertson,
HollywoodReporter,
10 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crunches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunches. Accessed 12 Nov. 2025.
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