crush
A strong feeling of liking someone in a romantic way.
- A strong, often sudden feeling of romantic attraction, especially the kind that makes your heart beat faster when someone walks by. When you have a crush on someone, you might find yourself thinking about them constantly, feeling nervous around them, or hoping they'll notice you. Most crushes are temporary and intense, like a brief storm of feelings.
- To press or squeeze something with such force that it breaks, flattens, or crumbles. You might crush a soda can by stepping on it, or accidentally crush cookies at the bottom of your backpack. A bulldozer can crush an old building. When something gets crushed, its original shape is destroyed by pressure or weight.
- To defeat someone completely and overwhelmingly. A basketball team might crush their opponent with a score of 85 to 40. This meaning suggests total domination, where the victory is decisive and one-sided. You might hear someone say their favorite team crushed the competition or that a debater crushed an argument.
The noun crush can also mean a crowd of people pressed tightly together, though this meaning is less common today.