What does "crash" mean?
A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.
Crash
/kɹæʃ/ adj, noun, verb, slang
adj, noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A sudden, intense, loud sound, as made for example by cymbals.
- Grammar: crash is listed as adj, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: collapse, smash, wreck, a habit.
- Useful contrasts: avoid, boom, executing.
- Usage evidence: The stock market crash forced many retirees back into the job market.
How to use "crash"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "crash" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "crash" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "crash" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "crash" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "crash" is acting as adj, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "collapse" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "crash", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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."
- 2 A type of rough linen. uncountable
"The yearly allowance of clothing on this plantation, consisted of two tow-linen shirts—such linen as the coarsest crash towels are made of[…]"
- 3 the act of colliding with something wordnet
- 4 An automobile, airplane, or other vehicle accident.
"She broke two bones in her body in a car crash."
- 5 a serious accident (usually involving one or more vehicles) wordnet
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 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."
- 7 a loud resonant repeating noise wordnet
- 8 A sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures).
"the stock market crash"
- 9 a sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures) wordnet
- 10 A comedown from a drug. informal
- 11 (computer science) an event that causes a computer system to become inoperative wordnet
- 12 A group of rhinoceroses. collective
"One of my favorites among the terms of groups of creatures is a crash of rhinoceros. I can imagine an African guide saying to his client, “Shoot, dammit, shoot! Here comes the whole bloody crash of rhinoceros!” […] Personally, I think I’d just as soon come across a crash of rhinoceros as a knot of toad."
- 13 A sudden decline in any living form's population levels, often leading to extinction.
Verb
- 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."
- 2 sleep in a convenient place wordnet
- 3 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."
- 4 stop operating wordnet
- 5 To hit or strike with force. transitive
"Roy Hodgson's side were dominant and fully merited the lead given to them when Eric Dier crashed a 20-yard free-kick high past keeper Igor Akinfeev with 17 minutes left."
Show 22 more definitions
- 6 undergo a sudden and severe downturn wordnet
- 7 To make a sudden loud noise.
"Thunder crashed directly overhead."
- 8 hurl or thrust violently wordnet
- 9 Ellipsis of gatecrash. abbreviation, alt-of, ambitransitive, ellipsis, slang
"We weren't invited to the party so we decided to crash it."
- 10 undergo damage or destruction on impact wordnet
- 11 To accelerate a project or a task or its schedule by devoting more resources to it. transitive
"Using the project plan, the team started to work out different scenarios to crash the schedule and bring the date to the regulatory deadline."
- 12 break violently or noisily; smash wordnet
- 13 To make or experience informal temporary living arrangements, especially overnight. intransitive, slang
"Hey dude, can I crash at your pad?"
- 14 cause to crash wordnet
- 15 To give, as a favor. slang, transitive
"'I been pissin' blood,' he said, grinning. Then frowning. 'Crash us a tenner, eh?'"
- 16 fall or come down violently wordnet
- 17 To lie down for a long rest, sleep or nap, as from tiredness or exhaustion. intransitive, slang
- 18 enter uninvited; informal wordnet
- 19 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
"Falling from cloud nine / Crashing from the high / I'm letting go tonight / Yeah, I'm falling from cloud nine"
- 20 move violently as through a barrier wordnet
- 21 To terminate or halt execution due to an exception. intransitive
"If the system crashes again, we'll have it fixed in the computer shop."
- 22 move with, or as if with, a crashing noise wordnet
- 23 To cause an exception that terminates or halts execution. transitive
"Double-clicking this icon crashes the desktop."
- 24 make a sudden loud sound wordnet
- 25 To take a sudden and severe turn for the worse; to rapidly and catastrophically deteriorate.
"And the unvarying lesson of history is that all such balance of power peaces have crashed into new conflicts, as soon as the unstable equilibrium was disturbed, witness the Peace of Westphalia, the Congress of Vienna, and, in our own time, Versailles."
- 26 occupy, usually uninvited wordnet
- 27 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."
Adjective
- 1 Quick, fast, intensive, impromptu. not-comparable
"crash course"
Example
"The stock market crash forced many retirees back into the job market."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "crash"?
Common synonyms include: collapse, smash, wreck, a habit, accident, accident.
How do you use "crash" in a sentence?
The stock market crash forced many retirees back into the job market.
How do you pronounce "crash"?
Pronounced /kɹæʃ/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
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).
Etymology 2
Uncertain; perhaps compare Russian крашени́на (krašenína, “coarse linen”).