crush

/kɹʌʃ/

//kɹʌʃ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"crush" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“crush” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,409. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,409
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.

Corpus desk

Index EN-crush · crush · English

crush · rank #5,409 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,409
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH dam

Nearest frequency peer: dam (+1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “crush”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “crush” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

crush vs Cruz
40% similar
crush vs crux
60% similar
crush vs cusp
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for crush
PropertyValue
Headwordcrush
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹʌʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,409
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “crush”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).crushlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “dam” (#5,410), “couch” (#5,407), “decrease” (#5,411). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “crush” is #5,409. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around crush (IPA /kɹʌʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,409 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 14 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for crush, with forms such as "ccrush", "crrush", and "crsuh". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Cruz", "crux", "cusp", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to crush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, grind, strike… The correct English form is crush, spelled C-R-U-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.
  2. 2
    Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd.
  3. 3
    A violent crowding.
  4. 4
    A crowd that produces uncomfortable pressure.
  5. 5
    A group or gang.
  6. 6
    A crowd control barrier.
  7. 7
    A drink made by squeezing the juice out of fruit.
  8. 8
    An infatuation with somebody one is not dating.
  9. 9
    An infatuation with somebody one is not dating.
  10. 10
    A standing stock or cage with movable sides used to restrain livestock for safe handling.
  11. 11
    A party or festive function.
  12. 12
    The process of crushing cane to remove the raw sugar, or the season when this process takes place.
  13. 13
    The situation where certain colors are so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display.
  14. 14
    A paraphilia involving arousal from seeing things destroyed by crushing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how crush appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The more highly the injured part is endowed with sensory nerves the more marked is the shock; a crush of the hand, for example, is attended with a more intense degree of shock than a correspondingly severe crush of the foot
  2. a crush at a reception

Etymology

From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to crush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, grind, strike, smash”). Cognate with Middle Low German tôkrosten (“to crush, shatter”), Swedish krysta (“to squeeze”), Danish kryste (“to squash”), Icelandic kreista (“to squeeze, squash”), Faroese kroysta (“to squeeze”), Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to gnash”). Akin also to Middle Dutch crosen (“to bruise, crush”), Middle Low German krossen, krö̂sen, tôkrö̂sen (“to break, shatter”), Old Swedish krusa (“to crush”).

This word in other languages

enamoramiento(Español)barricade(Français)Zusammenprall(Deutsch)choque(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccrush
  • crrush
  • crsuh
  • cruhs
  • crushh
  • crussh
  • cursh
  • rcush

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of crush - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccrush1crrush1crsuh2cruhs2crushh1crussh1cursh2rcush2
Edit distance from "crush"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "crush"?
"crush" is spelled C-R-U-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹʌʃ/.
What does "crush" mean?
As a noun, "crush" means: A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.
What words are commonly confused with "crush"?
"crush" is commonly confused with "Cruz", "crux", "cusp". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "crush"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "crush" is /kɹʌʃ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "crush"?
From Middle English cruschen (“to crush, smash, squeeze, squash”), from Old French croissir (“to crush”), from Late Latin *crusciō (“to crush”), from Frankish *krustijan (“to crush, squeeze, squash”), from Proto-Germanic *kreustaną (“to crush, gri... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "crush", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

couch#5,407fears#5,416fires#5,417genre#5,418

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

cinema8 variantschuck8 variantsJessica8 variantsspray8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list