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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

crash.

A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkɹæʃ/[ˈkʰɹʷæʃ]
  1. A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.

    The piece ended in a crescendo, building up to a crash of cymbals.
    After the lightning came the crash of thunder.
  2. An automobile, airplane, or other vehicle accident.

    She broke two bones in her body in a car crash.
    Nobody survived the plane crash.
  3. A malfunction of computer software or hardware which causes it to shut down or become partially or totally inoperable.

    My computer had a crash so I had to reboot it.
  4. A sudden large decline in the value of money, stocks or other assets, etc., especially one that causes additional economic difficulties.

    the stock market crash
  5. A comedown from a drug.

    informal
  6. A group of rhinoceroses.

    collective
  7. A sudden decline in any living form's population levels, often leading to extinction.

  8. tarlatan, mull.

Where this word comes from

From Middle English crasshen, crasschen, craschen (“to break into pieces”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of earlier *crasken, from crasen (“to break”) + -k (formative suffix); or from earlier *craskien, *craksien, a variant of craken (“to crack, break open”) (for form development compare break, brask, brash).

adj/ˈkɹæʃ/[ˈkʰɹʷæʃ]
  1. Quick, fast, intensive, impromptu.

    not-comparable
    crash course
    crash diet
Where this word comes from

From Middle English crasshen, crasschen, craschen (“to break into pieces”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of earlier *crasken, from crasen (“to break”) + -k (formative suffix); or from earlier *craskien, *craksien, a variant of craken (“to crack, break open”) (for form development compare break, brask, brash).

verb/ˈkɹæʃ/[ˈkʰɹʷæʃ]
  1. To collide with something destructively; to fall or come down violently.

    intransitive
    When the car crashed into a house, the driver was heavily injured.
    After driving into a tree last week, grandpa's crashed into a deer this morning.
  2. To cause something to collide with something else, especially when this results in damage.

    transitive
    I'm sorry for crashing the bike into a wall. I'll pay for repairs.
  3. To hit or strike with force.

    transitive
  4. To make a sudden loud noise.

    Thunder crashed directly overhead.
  5. Ellipsis of gatecrash.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ambitransitive · ellipsis · slang
    We weren't invited to the party so we decided to crash it.
  6. To accelerate a project or a task or its schedule by devoting more resources to it.

    transitive
  7. To make or experience informal temporary living arrangements, especially overnight.

    intransitive · slang
    Hey dude, can I crash at your pad?
  8. To give, as a favor.

    slang · transitive
  9. To lie down for a long rest, sleep or nap, as from tiredness or exhaustion.

    intransitive · slang
  10. To experience a period of depression and/or lethargy after a period of euphoria, as after the euphoric effect of a psychotropic drug has dissipated.

    intransitive
  11. To terminate or halt execution due to an exception.

    intransitive
    If the system crashes again, we'll have it fixed in the computer shop.
  12. To cause an exception that terminates or halts execution.

    transitive
    Double-clicking this icon crashes the desktop.
  13. To take a sudden and severe turn for the worse; to rapidly and catastrophically deteriorate.

  14. To take a subject at higher level without having previously studied it.

    Scotland · transitive
    Joe's crashing Higher Physics, even after I told him it was a bad idea.
Where this word comes from

From Middle English crasshen, crasschen, craschen (“to break into pieces”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of earlier *crasken, from crasen (“to break”) + -k (formative suffix); or from earlier *craskien, *craksien, a variant of craken (“to crack, break open”) (for form development compare break, brask, brash).

noun/ˈkɹæʃ/[ˈkʰɹʷæʃ]
  1. A type of rough linen.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Uncertain; perhaps compare Russian крашени́на (krašenína, “coarse linen”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.