It seems to many a bit less fun at this point, because they have to do some serious work, perhaps even collect and crunch data.

They are often used to generate images in video games but can also crunch data for tasks that require vast amounts of computer processing power.

They teach computer systems to crunch data and learn from experience, understand information and respond to it in the same way as a human being.

Huge increases in the ability to collect and crunch data have made electronic intelligence more important.

The company can crunch data from millions of customer reviews to determine what people like and don't like about certain products, allowing it to find a happy medium.

Prices have been on the slide this year as the credit crunch hits the market.

Fears that television income, which has fuelled football's boom, could dry up as the credit crunch hits advertising revenues, were also dismissed.

When push comes to shove and the crunch hits, the value of real corporate responsibility actually becomes more, rather than less, obvious and essential.

If the credit crunch hits the movie business, who knows?

Yet those losses seem likely to be eclipsed soon by drastic job cuts in the retailing and leisure sectors, as a consumer crunch hits home, and in the financial industries.

What a splendidly brisk and bracing winter we're having for walking - snow in the fields, drifts in the hedges, panes of ice in the puddles to crunch underfoot.

He was seven years old, the sun shone and gravel crunched underfoot as he asked about my job as a journalist.

Beneath the big screens that still showed the continuing pageantry of a jubilee in full pomp, broken bottles crunched underfoot.

Eventually the depressing whiff of tear gas wafted over as the crowds scattered, broken glass crunching underfoot.

The snow crunched underfoot as we made our way toward the porch light.

We were heading, the analysts assured us, for an energy crunch.

The gap will yawn wider in the coming few years and will present the next government with an energy crunch that could be even more painful than today's credit crunch.

The nuclear industry welcomed the plans, but critics said that ministers had acted too late to avoid an energy crunch caused by the closure of ageing coal-fired stations.

But it will spark yet more fury over the energy crunch that's plunged millions of households into 'fuel poverty'.

If we are to solve either, environmentalists on the left must take the energy crunch - and the potential of 'fracking' - seriously.

During the next nine months, battling the perfect storm of financial crunch and a slowdown of placements from local authorities, we had to face reality about making our business work.

After the financial crunch in 2008, risk became anathema.

In 1924, a financial crunch meant that the station might be forced to close down.

In 2006, a huge financial crunch kept the co-operative society from undertaking renovation of the coffee house.

A year later, future awards were canceled indefinitely, due to falling sales of their titles caused by the financial crunch in many schools and libraries.

I can hear the crunch of boots as the current crop of trainees practises marching on to the stage for an open-air concert this evening.

Each week you hear the crunch of sensible shoes on damp gravel and the swish of waterproof-wearing legs.

I heard a crunch behind me and realised someone else must have jumped out too.

I heard a crunching sound like teeth grinding.

Lean back over the ball and come up to a nice crunch.

Purists argue for nothing but a squeeze of lemon, while many believe shredded celery gives a nice crunch.

The meringue should be golden brown and the sugar caramelized to give a nice crunch.

A nice crunch comes courtesy of the walnuts.

The spring onions add a nice crunch.

The growl of diesel, the satisfying crunch of gravel, the squeal of brakes.

There’s nothing quite like the satisfying crunch that comes when biting into a salad.

Raw celery, carrots and pepper all have a satisfying crunch and are hardy enough to withstand the rigours of a school lunchbox.

The points of our crampons shatter the surface layer and sink into the meatier ice beneath with a satisfying crunch.

But those plump tyres grip flat, compacted snow with a deeply satisfying crunch.

I do stretches and stomach crunches, then cover myself in body butter.

For 24 long and hungry weeks they've endured stomach crunches and rabbit-food lunches, workout drills and running up hills.

Don't forget basics like stomach crunches, press-ups and lunges.

Dumbbells are cheap and easy to store and will help with upper and lower body exercises such as bicep curls, stomach crunches, chest presses and leg squats.

This sounds fun, but actually involves traditional moves such as stomach crunches - doing as many as you can for 10 seconds, resting for three seconds, and then repeating five times.