CRUSHING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Crushing

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/krˈəʃɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Crush v. t. (past & past part. crushed; pres. part. crushing)

1.

To press or bruise between two hard bodies; to squeeze, so as to destroy the natural shape or integrity of the parts, or to force together into a mass; as, to crush grapes. "Ye shall not offer unto the Lord that which is bruised, or crushed, or broken, or cut." "The ass... thrust herself unto the wall, and crushed Balaam's foot against the wall."

2.

To reduce to fine particles by pounding or grinding; to comminute; as, to crush quartz.

3.

To overwhelm by pressure or weight; to beat or force down, as by an incumbent weight. "To crush the pillars which the pile sustain." "Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again."

4.

To oppress or burden grievously. "Thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway."

5.

To overcome completely; to subdue totally. "Speedily overtaking and crushing the rebels."

6.

To subdue or overwhelm (a person) by argument or a cutting remark; to cause (a person) to feel chagrin or humiliation; to squelch.

To crush a cup, to drink. (Obs.)

To crush out.

(a)

To force out or separate by pressure, as juice from grapes.

(b)

To overcome or destroy completely; to suppress.

Crush v. i. To be or become broken down or in, or pressed into a smaller compass, by external weight or force; as, an eggshell crushes easily.

adjective

Crushing adj. That crushes; overwhelming. "The blow must be quick and crushing."

See images of 'Crushing'

Etymology of 'Crushing'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Crushing" Quotes from Famous Books

... contradiction in terms, since absolution assumes penitence. Again, among the hypocrites in the sixth Bolgia, Dante sees men approach in dazzling cloaks, of which the hoods cover their eyes and face, like those worn by the monks of Cologne; but he finds that they are crushing weights of gilded lead—splendid semblance and agonizing, destroying reality. Again, when the two poets, Dante and Virgil, came to the Abyss of Evil-pits (Malebolge), down which the crimson stream of Phlegethon leaps in "a Niagara of blood," he is on the edge of the Circle ...

— Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 7 of 8 • Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne

... workshops or in the presence of well-known builders, he would make confident statements, inveigh against errors, or demand modifications, people thought him flippant and saucy. Once somebody called him a raw lad. The answer came with crushing rapidity: "When you blunder, raw lads like myself ...

— Georges Guynemer - Knight of the Air • Henry Bordeaux

... But the one as well as the other proves him to have perceived much of what was noblest in the Wycliffite movement, and much of what was ignoblest in the reception with which it met at the hands of worldlings—before, with the aid of the State, the Church finally succeeded in crushing it, to ...

— Chaucer • Adolphus William Ward

... our eyes. Every building was either partly or wholly wrecked, roofs and cornices falling from skyscrapers on lower houses, crushing and ...

— Complete Story of the San Francisco Horror • Richard Linthicum

... mass of struggling men and boys covered the apples. They threw themselves upon each other's backs. They clawed like wild-cats, barked like wolves. They kicked each other out of the way, and scratched and mauled each other, crushing hats, tearing coats, bruising shins. As fast as one man filled his hands or arms or pockets, the others set upon him, struck them from his arm, snatched them from his hands, tore them from his pockets, or tripped him headlong to the floor, where he rolled in the filthy ...

— A Spoil of Office - A Story of the Modern West • Hamlin Garland

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