Synonyms of crunches

crunches 1 of 2

noun

plural of crunch

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

• shortages
• lacks
• deficiencies
• deficits
• droughts
• famines
• wants
• absences
• pinches
• inadequacies
• scarcities
• insufficiencies
• failures
• lacunae
• poverties
• undersupplies
• dearths
• paucities
• omissions
• needs
• necessities
• privations

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• amplitudes
• sufficiencies
• adequacies
• abundances
• wealths
• plenties
• surpluses
• excesses
• plenitudes
• oversupplies
• opulences
• surfeits
• overabundances

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

• crises
• crossroads
• heads
• emergencies
• extremities
• situations
• boiling points
• flash points
• crunch times
• clutches
• exigencies
• breaking points
• possibilities
• conjunctures
• zero hours
• points of no return
• junctures
• Dunkirks
• moments of truth
• milestones
• predicaments
• tinderboxes
• climaxes
• contingencies
• turning points
• conditions
• scrapes
• pinches
• corners
• jams
• passes
• fixes
• landmarks
• straits
• happenings
• spots
• impasses
• stalemates
• deadlocks
• holes
• last minutes
• hot waters
• last ditches
• eleventh hours

crunches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of crunch

as in scrapes

to press or strike against or together so as to make a scraping sound

I could hear the bicycle gears crunch as I shifted the derailleur

Synonyms & Similar Words

• scrapes
• grits
• scratches
• grinds
• groans
• creaks
• scrunches
• moans
• gnashes
• whines
• grates
• clashes
• collides
• jars
• rasps
• jangles

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of crunches

Noun

Poor form during exercises like crunches can create similar strain, which is part of what Ripa picked up on. — Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026

As committed as Ripa is, there’s no good evidence that crunches speed up neck aging. — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026

That’s not the case for many other ab exercises, such as crunches, which tend to target only one area. — Christa Sgobba, HEALTH, 17 Sep. 2026

The measure would seek to bridge that timing gap for districts facing cash crunches. — Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026

Other teams have had 40-man crunches like this before, which is why the Rays traded Brett Wisely to the Giants in November 2022. — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

The snow crunches under my feet, sifts from trailside pine boughs. — Brian Laidlaw, Longreads, 1 Sep. 2026

That gap is exactly why so many otherwise successful companies hit cash crunches, stall out during growth or make decisions based on lagging information. — Loran Armstrong, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Both Boeing and Airbus have been plagued by supply crunches following the Covid-19 pandemic, and have struggled to meet demand for new aircraft from customers. — Elsa Ohlen, CNBC, 20 July 2026

Verb

Each month, Edward Flores crunches the numbers. — Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026

Energage administers an employee survey that covers 26 factors and then crunches the feedback data and scores companies based on the responses. — San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), the nonpartisan budget watchdog that regularly crunches numbers on policy impacts on the $38 trillion national debt, included $50 billion as one estimate in a series of projections published in early November. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2025

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

The website then crunches the numbers to see if your toilet paper stash will be enough to last the full length of the specified quarantine. — Michael Dobuski, ABC News, 27 Mar. 2020