Crash

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɹæʃ/
• Rhymes: -æʃ

From Middle English crasschen ("to break into pieces"), of unknown origin, possibly onomatopoeia.

Full definition of crash

Noun

1. An automobile, airplane, or other vehicle accident.She broke two bones in her body in a car crash.Nobody survived the plane crash
2. A computer malfunction that is caused by faulty software, and makes the system either partially or totally inoperable.My computer had a crash so I had to reboot it.
3. A loud sound as made for example by cymbals.The piece ended in a crescendo, building up to a crash of cymbals.
4. A sudden large decline of business or the prices of stocks (especially one that causes additional failures)the stock market crash'
5. A comedown of a drug.
6. A group of rhinoceroses.
• p. 1991 Patrick F. McManus, “Nincompoopery and Other Group Terms”, in The Grasshopper Trap, Henry Holt and Company, ISBN 0-8050-0111-5, page 103,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.
• 1998, E. Melanie Watt, Black Rhinos, page 19The largest group of black rhinos reported was made up of 13 individuals. A group of rhinos is called a crash.
• 1999, Edward Osborne Wilson, The Diversity of Life, page 126Out in the water a crash of rhinoceros-like animals browse belly deep through a bed of aquatic plants.
• 2003, Claude Herve-Bazin, Judith Farr Kenya and Tanzania, page 23The crash of rhinoceros at Tsavo now numbers almost 200.
7. dysphoria

Derived terms

• crash and burn
• crash course
• crashpad
• stock market crash

Adjective

1. quick, fast, intensivecrash coursecrash diet

Verb

1. (transitive) To collide with something destructively, fall or come down violently.
2. (transitive) To severely damage or destroy something by causing it to collide with something else.I'm sorry for crashing the bike into a wall. I'll pay for repairs.
3. (transitive, slang) (via gatecrash) To attend a social event without invitation.We weren't invited to the party so we decided to crash it.
4. (transitive, management) To accelerate a project or a task or its schedule by devoting more resources to it.
• 2008, Rick A. Morris, Project management that works, Using the project plan, the team started to work out different scenarios to crash the schedule and bring the date to the regulatory deadline.
5. (intransitive) To make or experience informal temporary living arrangements.Hey dude, can I crash at your pad?
6. (computing, software, intransitive) To terminate extraordinarily.If the system crashes again, we'll have it fixed in the computer shop.
7. (computing, software, transitive) To cause to terminate extraordinarily.Double-clicking this icon crashes the desktop.
8. (intransitive) 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.

From Russian крашенина (krašenína, "coarse linen").

Noun

1. (fibre) Plain linen.

Anagrams

• chars