crunch
noun [ C, usually singular ]
uk/krʌnʃ/ usa situation in which there is not enough of something:
Humanity is heading for an energy crunch within a very few years.
a crunch happens/occurs The crunch occurred because irresponsible lending led to a huge debt bubble.
If we want to avoid a recurrence of this present crunch, we need to understand why it happened.
Numerous agencies are starting to feel the crunch from operating for four months at or below last year's levels.
See also
cash crunch
credit crunch
if/when it comes to the crunch
when a situation becomes extremely serious and a decision must be made:
If it comes to the crunch, we'll have no alternative but to sell up.
crunch
verb [ T ]
uk/krʌnʃ/ uscrunch (the) numbers
to deal with data by performing a large number of calculations:
We hired a major accounting firm to crunch the numbers.
We believe we have made a profit, but we haven't crunched the numbers yet.
See also
number cruncher