crush

B2 · Upper Intermediate

v. to defeat a person, an army, or an idea completely so they cannot fight back.

v. to overcome or subdue an opponent or movement entirely, often through overwhelming force or authority.

“The government used the army to crush the rebellion in the capital.”

“The heavy tax burden served to crush any hope of economic recovery for the small business owners in the region.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Informal

v. to do something extremely well, like a performance or a job interview.

v. to perform a task or participate in an event with exceptional skill or success.

“You totally crushed that presentation; everyone was really impressed.”

“After weeks of preparation, she absolutely crushed the interview and was offered the position before she even got home.”

B1 · Intermediate Countable noun Informal

n. a strong but usually temporary feeling of love for someone you do not know well.

n. a brief but intense infatuation with someone, typically unvoiced or unrequited.

“I had a huge crush on a famous singer when I was a teenager.”

“He realized his feelings were more than just a passing crush when he found himself unable to focus on anything else during the day.”

B2 · Upper Intermediate Countable noun

n. a large group of people pushed close together in a small space.

n. a dense crowd of people resulting in uncomfortable physical pressure.

“There was a real crush at the stadium gates as everyone tried to get in at once.”

“The security guards struggled to manage the crush of fans gathered outside the hotel entrance.”

C1 · Advanced Uncountable noun Computing Technical

n. when dark colors in a video look the same and you lose detail.

n. a loss of shadow detail in an image or video where dark grey tones become indistinguishable from black.

“The new monitor has great colors, but there is some black crush in dark scenes.”

“Professional colorists often complain about black crush on consumer-grade OLED panels when viewing high-dynamic-range content.”