1 [no object] (of a vehicle) collide violently with an obstacle or another vehicle:the stolen car she was riding in crashed into a tree
[with object] cause (a moving object) to collide with an obstacle or another vehicle.
(of an aircraft) fall from the sky and violently hit the land or sea:a jet crashed 200 yards from the school
[with object] cause (an aircraft) to fall from the sky and land violently.
2move or cause to move with force, speed, and sudden loud noise: [no object]:huge waves crashed down on us [with object]:she crashed down the telephone receiver
[no object] make a sudden loud, deep noise:the thunder crashed
3 [no object] informal (of a business, a market, or a price) fall suddenly and disastrously in value:silver prices crashed in early 1980
4 [no object] Computing (of a machine, system, or software) fail suddenly:the project was postponed because the computer crashed
chiefly North American (of a patient) suffer a cardiac arrest.
5 [with object] informal enter (a party) without an invitation or permission.
6 [no object] informal go to sleep, especially suddenly or in an improvised setting:I’ll crash in the back of the van for a couple of hours
noun
1a violent collision, typically of one vehicle with another or with an obstacle:a car crash
an instance of an aircraft falling from the sky to hit the land or sea.
2a sudden loud noise as of something breaking or hitting another object:he slammed the phone down with a crash
3a sudden disastrous drop in the value or price of something, especially shares of stock:a stock market crashthe crash of 1987
the sudden collapse of a business.
4 Computing a sudden failure which puts a system out of action.
adjective
done rapidly or urgently and involving a concentrated effort:a crash course in Italian
adverb
with a sudden loud sound:crash went the bolt
Phrases
crash and burn
informal come to grief or fail spectacularly.
Origin:
late Middle English: imitative, perhaps partly suggested by craze and dash
