CRUNCHES Synonyms: 95 Similar and Opposite Words

crunches 1 of 2

noun

plural of crunch

as in shortages

a falling short of an essential or desirable amount or number a severe energy crunch that resulted in long lines at the gas pumps

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in crises

a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action a player who's always good in a crunch, like when we need a goal to win the soccer match

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crunches

2 of 2

verb

present tense third-person singular of crunch

as in scrapes

to press or strike against or together so as to make a scraping sound I could hear the bicycle gears crunch as I shifted the derailleur

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Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of crunches

Noun

The video featured resistance training combos, like squats paired with overhead dumbbell presses, and another including skull crushers with a barbell and reverse crunches. — Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2026 Poor form during exercises like crunches can create similar strain, which is part of what Ripa picked up on. — Ryan Brennan, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026 As committed as Ripa is, there’s no good evidence that crunches speed up neck aging. — Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 8 Oct. 2026 That’s not the case for many other ab exercises, such as crunches, which tend to target only one area. — Christa Sgobba, HEALTH, 17 Sep. 2026 The measure would seek to bridge that timing gap for districts facing cash crunches. — Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026 Other teams have had 40-man crunches like this before, which is why the Rays traded Brett Wisely to the Giants in November 2022. — Grant Brisbee, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026 The snow crunches under my feet, sifts from trailside pine boughs. — Brian Laidlaw, Longreads, 1 Sep. 2026 That gap is exactly why so many otherwise successful companies hit cash crunches, stall out during growth or make decisions based on lagging information. — Loran Armstrong, Forbes.com, 28 July 2026

Verb

Each month, Edward Flores crunches the numbers. — Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026 Energage administers an employee survey that covers 26 factors and then crunches the feedback data and scores companies based on the responses. — San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Nov. 2025 The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), the nonpartisan budget watchdog that regularly crunches numbers on policy impacts on the $38 trillion national debt, included $50 billion as one estimate in a series of projections published in early November. — Nick Lichtenberg, Fortune, 24 Nov. 2025 Each year, Google crunches the numbers to identify the items that were highly searched, newly searched, or trending for a period of time from May to September. — Averi Baudler, PEOPLE, 4 Nov. 2025 Nguyen Nik Bonitto shoves the Jets' left tackle back into Justin Fields and Zach Allen crunches him from the interior on that third-down floater. — Joe Nguyen, Denver Post, 12 Oct. 2025 The website then crunches the numbers to see if your toilet paper stash will be enough to last the full length of the specified quarantine. — Michael Dobuski, ABC News, 27 Mar. 2020

Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunches

Noun

Musk has repeatedly treated the sports car as a lower priority than Tesla’s other projects, while also blaming supply chain shortages for earlier delays.

— Bilin Lin, Fortune, 17 Oct. 2026
Attacks on oil refineries have led to widespread fuel shortages, while strikes on warehouses operated by Russia’s largest online retailers, Wildberries and Ozon, have caused chaos for micro-entrepreneurs who rely on their networks.

— Zahra Ullah, CNN Money, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of shortages

Noun

Latif, a hitman who’s also a father of three and a practicing Muslim, faces compounding crises when his wife dies, leaving him with a newborn who can’t tolerate formula.

— The Week US, TheWeek, 13 Oct. 2026
With a system immune to currency crises, stability was established in Ecuador, and while stability might not be everything, everything is nothing without stability.

— Steve H. Hanke, Fortune, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of crises

Verb

Their situation becomes critical when one of the adolescent children, Elia (Vanessa Ceban), is observed by a teacher to have a mark on her face and scrapes on her back.

— Richard Brody, New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2026
Amazon alleged that Muse stores customer credentials and scrapes account data, among other issues.

— Caleigh Keating, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026

Definition of scrapes

Noun

Tasked with shepherding his major stars through bombastic performances, Fern’s directing lacks focus.

— Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Sep. 2026
While Verse and Alex Wright will man the edges and Denzel Ward remains an elite anchor in the secondary, the front seven lacks proven game-disrupting star power, leaving the defense reliant on scheme and discipline to hold up.

— David Troy OutKick, FOXNews.com, 3 Sep. 2026

Definition of lacks

Noun

Related Stories The growing muscle that YouTube flexes as the video crossroads of the world was a near-constant subject of conversation.

— Leo Barraclough, Variety, 15 Oct. 2026
Critics see a once-lively multiethnic crossroads suffocated by Chinese authoritarianism.

— David J. Lynch, Washington Post, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of crossroads

Noun

The left, of course, took this completely out of context because most things fly over their heads, and instead viewed it as Sweeney somehow demeaning women's sports.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
What is the probability of getting exactly three heads and three tails?

— Dana Mackenzie, Scientific American, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of heads

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“Crunches.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunches. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of crunches

noun

verb

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