to bite or chew (crisp foods) with a crushing or crackling sound
2.
to make or cause to make a crisp or brittle sound
the snow crunched beneath his feet
3. (transitive) informal
to perform calculations on (numbers or data) on a large scale
noun
4.
the sound or act of crunching
5. short for abdominal crunch
6. the crunch
adjective
7. informal
critical; decisive
crunch time
Also called: craunch
Derived forms
crunchable (ˈcrunchable)
adjective
crunchy (ˈcrunchy)
adjective
crunchily (ˈcrunchily)
adverb
crunchiness (ˈcrunchiness)
noun
Word origin
C19: changed (through influence of munch) from earlier craunch, of imitative origin
cranch in American English
(krɑːntʃ)
transitive verb, intransitive verb or noun
crunch
Word origin
[1740–50; perh. b. crash1 and crunch]This word is first recorded in the period 1740–50. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: adagio, caricature, kingfish, materialism, snappy