n.  嘎吱嘎吱的声音

n. 〔尤指缺少钱或时间造成的〕困难局面，困境

n. （突发的）不足，短缺；（尤指）缺钱

n.  仰卧起坐〔一种锻炼腹肌的运动方式〕≈ sit-up

v.  嘎吱作响

v.  嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼

• the crunch  关键时刻，需要作出困难决定时

• crunch (the) numbers 〔为找出答案而进行的〕大量运算

• a budget/energy/housing crunch  预算金额╱能源╱住房短缺

• Cost cutting had enabled the organization to survive a previous cash crunch. 削减成本使得该机构渡过了早前资金短缺的难关。

• He always says he'll help but when it comes to the crunch he does nothing. 他口口声声说一定帮忙，然而到关键时候却不会行动。

• The dog was crunching on a bone. 这条狗在嘎吱嘎吱地啃骨头。

• The computer will crunch all the numbers to determine the final score. 电脑会对所有数字进行计算，算出最后的分数。

BrE /əˌbriːviˈeɪʃn/   

NAmE /əˌbriːviˈeɪʃn/