crunching

verb

present participle of crunch
as in scraping
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

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 crunching Why, then, with so much at stake in November, would one of Pelosi‘s last acts before retirement be mucking about in the elbow-throwing, bone-crunching race between the two San Francisco Democrats vying to succeed her in January? — Los Angeles Times, 21 Oct. 2026 Thus, qubits offer an exponential approach to crunching large amounts of data, which could help tackle problems that even the fastest supercomputers of today will take decades to solve. — Ameya Paleja, Interesting Engineering, 19 Oct. 2026 With so few ancient samples of dodo DNA surviving—and that which does exist having degraded over the centuries—the analytic and number-crunching power of AI is just what’s needed to fill in the genetic blanks. — Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 14 Oct. 2026 From the sounds of it, those are tough terms for the numbers-crunching Ellison to honor. — Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 2 Oct. 2026 During its five-season run, there were plenty of crunching tackles, perfect spirals and last-second touchdowns by the Dillon Panthers. — Saul Austerlitz, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026 Plus, its eye-saver mode and flicker-free technology help reduce strain during long hours of crunching data. — Juhi Wadia, PC Magazine, 28 Sep. 2026 Hardly blinding by any means, crunching math slower than a grade school student on a hot Friday afternoon. — Mike McRae 22, New Atlas, 23 Sep. 2026 The former finance worker wrapped up his own aerospace career back in 2017, winding down from a three-decade career of crunching financial figures. — Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 6 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunching
  1. scraping
  2. gritting
  3. scratching
Verb
  • Startup Hamlet has parsed tens of thousands of city council meetings by scraping local governments’ video recordings, tagging comments as friendly or hostile to a potential project.
    — J.D. Capelouto, semafor.com, 21 Oct. 2026
  • Writers can upload a script and receive back a copy that is resistant to AI analysis, scraping and training.
    — Katie Campione, Deadline, 20 Oct. 2026
Definition of scraping
Verb
  • Red flag The Dodgers still don’t know what to reasonably expect from Ohtani, gritting out the postseason despite discomfort in his left knee and right arm.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Showed toughness by gritting through ankle and knee injuries in the Final Four and title game.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 June 2026
Definition of gritting
Verb
  • Lee is forever grunting and scratching and clearing his throat.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 22 Oct. 2026
  • People are advised to watch for signs of rodent activity including droppings, gnaw marks, scratching or scurrying sounds and rub marks along baseboards or around entry points.
    — Veronica Fernandez-Alvarado Updated October 21, Sacbee.com, 21 Oct. 2026
Definition of scratching

Phrases Containing crunching

Browse Nearby Words

crunches (on)
crunching
crunching (on)
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Crunching.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunching. Accessed 28 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of grotesque

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All