crash1

verb

• 1 [no object] (of a vehicle) collide violently with an obstacle or another vehicle:a racing car had crashed, wrecking a safety barrier the stolen car she was riding in crashed into a tree
• [with object] cause (a vehicle) to collide violently with something: they crashed a lorry through a fence
• (of an aircraft) fall from the sky and hit the land or sea:a jet crashed 200 yards from the school
• [with object] cause (an aircraft) to fall from the sky: the test pilot crashed a Hurricane fighter plane

• 2move or cause to move with force, speed, and sudden loud noise: [no object, with adverbial of direction]:huge waves crashed down on to us [with object and adverbial of direction]:she crashed down the telephone receiver
• [no object] make a sudden loud noise:the thunder crashed

• 3 [no object] informal (of shares, a business, etc.) suddenly drop in value or fail:the shares crashed to 329p
• be heavily defeated in a sporting competition:Barcelona crashed out of the European Cup

• 4 [no object] (of a computer, computing 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; gatecrash.
• illegally pass (a red traffic light): the cab driver crashed the lights

• 6 [no object] informal go to sleep, especially suddenly or in an improvised setting:what was it you said just before I crashed out?

noun

• 1a violent collision, typically of one vehicle with another or with an object:a car crash
• an instance of an aircraft falling from the sky to hit the land or sea: a pilot who survived the crash of his plane

• 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:the 1987 stock-market crash
• the sudden failure of a business: the crash of the company meant that 150 jobs would go

• 4a sudden failure which puts a computer system out of action: system crashes are an everyday hazard

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