Word: crush Part of Speech: noun Etymology: From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to crush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, grind, strike, smash”). Cognate with Middle Low German tôkrosten (“to crush, shatter”), Swedish krysta (“to squeeze”), Danish kryste (“to squash”), Icelandic kreista (“to squeeze, squash”), Faroese kroysta (“to squeeze”), Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to gnash”). Akin also to Middle Dutch crosen (“to bruise, crush”), Middle Low German krossen, krö̂sen, tôkrö̂sen (“to break, shatter”), Old Swedish krusa (“to crush”). Pronunciation: /kɹʌʃ/ 1. A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: The more highly the injured part is endowed with sensory nerves the more marked is the shock; a crush of the hand, for example, is attended with a more intense degree of shock than a correspondingly severe crush of the foot 2. Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd. Labels: countable, uncountable 3. A violent crowding. Labels: countable, uncountable 4. A crowd that produces uncomfortable pressure. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: a crush at a reception 5. A group or gang. Labels: countable, slang, uncountable Example: Then there was another set who called themselves the "Ragged Thirteen"; and the account says "they looked it." And, like most diggers, this "crush," to quote my authority, could handle the cards a bit. 6. A crowd control barrier. Labels: countable, uncountable 7. A drink made by squeezing the juice out of fruit. Labels: countable, uncountable Example: "Look," said Crabbe, warm orange crush in his hand. 8. An infatuation with somebody one is not dating. Labels: countable, informal, uncountable Example: I've had a huge crush on her since we met many years ago. Example: How did you know cause I never told / But you found out / I've got a crush on you 9. An infatuation with somebody one is not dating. Labels: broadly, countable, informal, uncountable Example: He took his crush out for dinner. Example: It had taken nine years from the evening that Truman first showed up with a pie plate at her mother's door, but his dogged perseverance eventually won him the hand of his boyhood Sunday school crush. 10. A standing stock or cage with movable sides used to restrain livestock for safe handling. Labels: countable, uncountable 11. A party or festive function. Labels: countable, dated, uncountable Example: Two months ago I went to a crush at Lady Brandon's. 12. The process of crushing cane to remove the raw sugar, or the season when this process takes place. Labels: Australia, countable, uncountable 13. The situation where certain colors are so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display. Labels: uncountable Example: black crush; white crush 14. A paraphilia involving arousal from seeing things destroyed by crushing. Labels: uncountable Example: Just as they say that marijuana leads to harder drugs, Gallegly is claiming that crush is a "gateway fetish"—a term I've never heard before. He claims that if someone starts with bugs they'll end up escalating to human babies in no time.