crash1
/kraʃ
/verb
1 [no object] (Of a vehicle) collide violently with an obstacle or another vehicle: a racing car had crashed, wrecking a safety barrier the stolen car she was riding in crashed into a tree...
- A nurse on her way to work on New Year's Eve was killed with her husband when two men driving a stolen car crashed into their vehicle.
- I was unable to stop in time and my car crashed into the other vehicle.
- His car had crashed into two parked vehicles, and he had been shot in the head and neck.
Synonyms
smash into, collide with, be in collision with, come into collision with, hit, strike, ram, smack into, slam into, bang into, cannon into, plough into, meet head-on, run into, drive into, bump into, knock into, crack into/against;
dash against;
North American impact
1.1 [with object] Cause (a vehicle) to collide violently with something: they crashed a lorry through a fence...
- A drunken motorist nearly crashed his car into a police vehicle before running away and leaving his baby lying next to the front seat.
- As detectives closed in during an undercover operation, he crashed his car into a police vehicle.
- A 19-year-old man told police he had been taken at gunpoint from Manchester city centre, made to take drugs and then crashed his vehicle.
Synonyms
smash, wreck, bump;
British write off
British informal prang
North American informal total
1.2(Of an aircraft) fall from the sky and hit the land or sea: a jet crashed 200 yards from the school...
- Police said the Pegasus microlight crashed after the pilot fell out of the aircraft but no people on the ground are reported to have been hurt.
- The gyrocopter crashed into a cornfield at Slamleys Farm, Great Notley, near Braintree, Essex, at 5.30 pm.
- More than 105 people were believed dead after a Nigerian airliner crashed into a densely populated area in the northern city of Kano yesterday.
1.3 [with object] Cause (an aircraft) to fall from the sky: the test pilot crashed a Hurricane fighter plane...
- I wasn't very good at hang-gliding, I crashed my glider, cricked my neck.
- At the more extreme end, some individuals and groups crash aeroplanes or blow up buildings.
- Almost 3,000 people died three years ago when four hijacked airliners were crashed.
2Move or cause to move with force, speed, and sudden loud noise: [no object, with adverbial of direction]: huge waves crashed down on to us [with object and adverbial of direction]: she crashed down the telephone receiver...
- They hear a loud noise (Andrew crashing the keys on his piano) and run away.
- The ocean sent winds in from both sides as waves crashed violently against the rocky cliffs.
- The waves crashed against the shore and the air smelt of salt and see breeze.
Synonyms
be hurled, dash;
batter, pound, pummel, lash, slam into
slam, bang, ram, smack
2.1 [no object] Make a sudden loud noise: the thunder crashed...
- Then the heavens opened, Hades bellowed, the thunder crashed, the water splashed, and a wall of rain came at us.
- Thunder crashed, louder than ever, and he felt a flutter of fear hit his stomach.
- The thunder crashed once again, even louder than before.
Synonyms
boom, crack, roll, clap, explode, bang, blast, resound, reverberate, rumble, thunder, ring out, sound loudly, blare, echo, fill the air;
clash, clang, clank, clatter, smash
3 [no object] informal (Of shares, a business, etc.) suddenly drop in value or fail: the shares crashed to 329p...
- By March 2003, the company's share price had crashed to an all-time low of $12.40.
- So, if your company's share price has crashed, you can take the money and lose nothing.
- In 2000 she boasted a paper fortune of £40 million but after the company's share price crashed, that was cut to £9 million.
Synonyms
fail, collapse, fold (up), go under, founder, be ruined, cave in;
go bankrupt, become insolvent, cease trading, go into receivership, go into liquidation, be liquidated, be wound up, be closed (down), be shut (down)
informal go broke, go bust, go bump, go to the wall, go belly up, come a cropper, flop, flatline
3.1Be heavily defeated in a sporting competition: Barcelona crashed out of the European Cup...
- John Kilby scored their only goal of the game as they crashed to defeat.
- Huddersfield finished with six tries as Leigh crashed to their first defeat in the Northern Ford Premiership.
- Hall Park crashed to yet another defeat and they look doomed for relegation.
4 [no object] (Of a computer, computing system, or software) fail suddenly: the project was postponed because the computer crashed...
- The computer system crashes on a regular basis (I work it out to be about twice a week at the moment).
- The national air traffic control computer system crashed at 6am, and flights were being operated manually by air traffic controllers.
- My computer crashed recently and we had to buy a new one.
4.1chiefly North American (Of a patient) suffer a cardiac arrest.Six months separated out fairly well the patients who crash versus those who do not....
- Doctors would often have to perform on-the-spot open heart surgery if a patient crashed.
- We were told afterwards that she crashed in theatre because of the delay previously.
5 [with object] informal Enter (a party) without an invitation; gatecrash.Grounded for the evening, the two sisters sneak out and decide to crash a party....
- Everyone sprawled in a loose circle and he felt like an adult crashing a slumber party.
- If you show up in scruffy jeans and a T-shirt they won't kick you out, but, if you are the kind to feel self-conscious, you may feel like you've crashed the wrong party.
Synonyms
gatecrash, come uninvited to, sneak into, slip into, invade, butt in on, intrude on/into
informal horn in on
5.1Illegally pass (a red traffic light): the cab driver crashed the lights...
- He said that it was only after the vehicle had crashed the traffic lights at Kermode Street that he decided that the pursuit might substantially increase the risk of injury to police or the public.
- All the buses turning out of Eagle Road onto St John's Hill crash the lights.
- For the record the traffic light was green and I was not crashing the lights.
6 [no object] informal Go to sleep, especially suddenly or in an improvised setting: what was it you said just before I crashed out?...
- We made it back to the place we were sleeping and crashed out.
- I crashed out at about 9pm last night and slept until 5am this morning.
- I crashed out for about 5 hours of semi-restful sleep, being woken by the rain this morning.
noun
1A violent collision, typically of one vehicle with another or with an object: a car crash...
- Police are keen to speak to any witnesses to the collision or anyone who saw either vehicle before the crash.
- A police officer was taken to hospital after the police car he was travelling in was involved in a crash with two other vehicles.
- Speed has been determined to be one of the most common contributing factors in vehicle crashes.
Synonyms
accident, collision, smash, bump, car crash, car accident, road accident, traffic accident, road traffic accident, RTA, multiple crash, multiple collision;
rail accident, derailment;
air accident, air crash;
North American wreck
informal smash-up, pile-up, shunt
British informal prang
1.1An instance of an aircraft falling from the sky to hit the land or sea: a pilot who survived the crash of his plane...
- He survived the crash by landing in ‘the biggest sand dune in the desert.’
- A pilot battled to avoid a plane crash as his stricken aircraft circled over Colchester
- Jack, and 47 others, survives a plane crash on a remote Pacific island.
2A sudden loud noise as of something breaking or hitting another object: he slammed the phone down with a crash...
- I heard a loud crash as something broke against the wall.
- Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, there was a loud crash, followed by the screeching of the train's breaks.
- Her words were broken off abruptly by a loud crash from a room in the apartment.
Synonyms
bang, smash, smack, crack, boom, bump, thud, thump, slam, clunk, clonk, clash, clang;
report, explosion, detonation, shot;
clangour, racket, din
informal wham, whump
3A sudden disastrous drop in the value or price of something: the 1987 stock-market crash...
- Looking to the past, housing bubbles often lead to crashes with price drops on homes that average from 25 to 30 percent.
- The price crash has been tough on the titanium industry.
- Last summer The Economist magazine predicted a housing crash in Ireland, stating that prices could fall by as much as 20 per cent.
3.1The sudden failure of a business: the crash of the company meant that 150 jobs would go...
- Last night the high-flying Sydney millionaire was struggling to explain the crash of the business he built from nothing.
- The crash of the company left 400,000 motorists without insurance cover.
Synonyms
failure, collapse, foundering, ruin, ruination;
bankruptcy, insolvency, cessation of trading, receivership, liquidation, winding up, closure, shutting
4A sudden failure which puts a computer system out of action: system crashes are an everyday hazard...
- It is believed the fault was linked to an operation centre at West Drayton as air traffic controllers switched to a manual system during the computer crash.
- No matter how good your network is, data loss and system crashes are inevitable.
- As far as I know, there has never been a system crash.
adjective [attributive]
Done rapidly or urgently and involving a concentrated effort: a crash course in Italian...
- Often, the recommended course isn't a crash diet but a commitment to a long-term change in eating habits.
- After a crash course on German the night prior to the interview, Nikki was offered the internship and will travel to Sydney soon to further her study of the German language.
- Anyone who applies for a learners' licence has to undergo an hour-long crash course in road safety.
Synonyms
intensive, concentrated, telescoped, high-pressure, strenuous, vigorous, all-out, thorough, in-depth, all-absorbing, total-immersion, rapid, urgent
adverb
With a sudden loud sound: crash went the bolt...
- And as the boy was stooping over the open chest, crash went the lid down.
- Crash went the waves on the rocks.
- The elephant first tried to sleep in a crib just like your baby cousin John has - and then it went crash.
Phrases
crash and burn
Origin
Late Middle English: imitative, perhaps partly suggested by craze and dash.
Rhymes
crash2
/kraʃ/noun [mass noun] dated
A coarse plain linen, woollen, or cotton fabric.
Origin
Early 19th century: from Russian krashenina 'dyed coarse linen'.