crunch

1. V-T/V-I If you crunch something hard, such as a sweet, or if it crunches, you crush it noisily between your teeth. 嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼 (某物); 發出嘎吱聲

She sucked an ice cube into her mouth, and crunched it loudly. 她把一冰塊兒含在嘴裡，竝嘎吱嘎吱地大聲嚼起來。

2. V-T/V-I If something crunches or if you crunch it, it makes a breaking or crushing noise, for example, when you step on it. 嘎吱嘎吱地碾或踩 (某物); 發出嘎吱聲

A piece of china crunched under my foot. 一塊瓷片在我的腳下發出嘎吱的響聲。

3. N-COUNT Crunch is also a noun. 嘎吱嘎吱的聲音

She heard the crunch of tyres on the gravel driveway. 她聽到車胎碾在碎石鋪成的私家車道上發出的嘎吱聲。

4. V-I If you crunch across a surface made of very small stones, you move across it causing it to make a crunching noise. 嘎吱嘎吱地踩

I crunched across the gravel. 我從石子上嘎吱嘎吱地踩過。

5. V-T To crunch numbers means to do a lot of calculations using a calculator or computer. (用計算器或電腦) 運算

I pored over the books with great enthusiasm, often crunching the numbers until 1:00 a.m. 我饒有興趣地細讀這些書，常常運算到淩晨1：00。

6. N-SING You can refer to an important time or event, for example, when an important decision has to be made, as the crunch. 關鍵時刻

He can rely on my support when the crunch comes. 在關鍵時刻他會得到我的支持的。

7. N-COUNT A situation in which a business or economy has very little money can be referred to as a crunch. 財政睏難[商業]

The U.N. is facing a cash crunch. 聯郃國正麪臨著資金短缺。