crush English · revision 7107

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1349|origins=fro croissir}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɹʌʃ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is Middle English crowsen, cruschen, [[bor|xno|crussir]], from Old French [[m|fro|cruissir|t=to gnash the teeth, crash, smash]], croissir,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) which is perhaps from Frankish *krostjan, to gnash, with cognates Gothic kriustan and Old Swedish krysta,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) from PIE [[ine-pro|*grews-|alt=*greus-]].^(Barnhart 1988) Hoad and NODE call the French word of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)^(NODE 1998)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ To smash or break into fragments: before 1349 in Barnhart, the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The OED's first sense, to dash together with violent noise, is from 1398.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ To compress violently so as to break or bruise is from before 1400,^(OED 1989) and to overpower or subdue, figuratively, from the mid-14th century.^(Etymonline) To humiliate or demoralize is by about 1600.^(Etymonline) The noun, a violent collision, is from the 1590s (1599),^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) a thick crowd from 1806,^(Etymonline) and a person one is infatuated with is American slang from 1884, with ''to have a crush on'' by 1903.^(Etymonline) Italian crosciare and Spanish crujir, to crack, are Germanic loanwords.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1349 – to smash.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * before 1400 – to squeeze violently.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1600 – to humiliate.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1599 – a collision (noun).^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1806 – a dense crowd.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1884 – an infatuation.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To press hard so as to break, deform or squash.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To defeat or suppress completely.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To make someone feel humiliated or crushed in spirit.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To crowd or squeeze into a small space.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A dense crowd of people.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(informal)'' A brief, intense infatuation, or the person who is its object.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A drink made from crushed fruit.^(COED 2004)^(Chambers 2008)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[crushable]]

+ * [[crusher]]

+ * [[crushingly]]

+ * [[crushproof]]

+ * [[crushability]]

+ * [[crushably]]

+ * [[crushed velvet]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[crunch]]

+ * [[crash]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}