Scrunch (Verb)
Meaning 1
Sit on one's heels; "In some cultures, the women give birth while squatting"; "The children hunkered down to protect themselves from the sandstorm".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Examples
- The tribal midwife guided the expectant mother to scrunch down to help facilitate a smoother labor process.
- As the massive tornado warning sirens sounded, the kids were told to quickly find cover and scrunch into the safest spot available.
- This ancient technique has modern women learning how to scrunch into the optimal birthing position to help alleviate pain.
- The gusty weather report prompted everyone to scrunch down for cover until the fierce gusts subsided safely.
- In preparation for impact, the young passengers were told to scrunch into the emergency position outlined by the flight crew.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Meaning 2
Make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in; `crisp' is archaic; "The dress got wrinkled"; "crease the paper like this to make a crane".
Classification
Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging.
Usages
Examples
- She scrunched up her face in distaste at the sour taste of the lemon.
- The rain scrunched the flowers into limp, soggy messes, marring their once-vibrant colors.
- Her fingers absent-mindedly scrunched the paper into a crumpled ball as she pondered her next move.
- The cat scrunched up against the baseboard, seeking a warm hiding spot for its afternoon nap.
- As she rummaged through the backseat of her car, she scrunched the empty fast-food wrappers into a useless pile.
Synonyms
Hypernyms
Hyponyms
Meaning 3
Make a noise typical of an engine lacking lubricants.
Classification
Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling.
Examples
- The bike's chain began to scrunch and grind as I rode uphill in low gear.
- As the old engine turned over, it started to scrunch and hesitate.
- The air conditioning unit began to scrunch and rattle before it stopped working.
- When I put the wrong type of oil in the car, it started to scrunch and overheat.
- The gears in the old transmission started to scrunch and bind as the car accelerated.