# crush

> English word · Noun · IPA /kɹʌʃ/ · frequency rank #5,409

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

## 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”).

## Easily confused with
- **Cruz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-cruz)
- **crux** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crux)
- **cusp** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-cusp)
- **cuss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-cuss)
- **Cyrus** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-cyrus)
- **crust** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crust)
- **cushy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-cushy)
- **crusty** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crusty)
- **crutch** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crutch)
- **Crusoe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crusoe)
- **crusts** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crusts)
- **crushed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crushed)
- **crushes** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crushes)
- **crusher** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crush-vs-crusher)
- **CRS** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crs-vs-crush)
- **cru** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cru-vs-crush)
- **cash** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cash-vs-crush)
- **Cris** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cris-vs-crush)
- **crud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/crud-vs-crush)
- **cause** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/cause-vs-crush)

## Common misspellings (8)
`ccrush`, `crrush`, `crsuh`, `cruhs`, `crushh`, `crussh`, `cursh`, `rcush`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/crush