v. 1
To reduce to fine particles by pounding or grinding.
v. 2
To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity, or to force together into a mass.
n. 1
A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin.
n. 2
Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd.

Related words

Word family: crushee crushable crushing
Phrases: cattle crush crush out girl crush man crush crush barrier crush syndrome crush zone fruit crush

Forms

Plural: crushes → infatuations, jams, presses, crunches…
Past participle: crushed
e.g. crushed → pulverized, pounded, shattered, crumbled…

Crush or Break?

To crush is to break by pressure from without, as an egg-shell.

J. C. Fernald, English Synonyms and Antonyms (1914)

Use in printed books, per decade from 1850 to 2019.

3 letters: jam¹, ace¹
4 letters: kill¹, beat¹, dash¹, mash¹, bray¹
5 letters: break¹, press¹, crowd¹, shell¹, pound¹, smash¹, grind¹, stomp¹, quell¹, quash¹
6 letters: humble², crunch¹, squash¹, bruise¹, subdue²
7 letters: squeeze¹, conquer², crumble², shatter², oppress², repress², trample², squelch¹, trounce¹, mortify³, contuse, crushee
8 letters: pressure², overcome³, suppress², overtake³, demolish³, compress², stampede², vanquish², macerate
9 letters: overthrow³, overwhelm³, overpower⁴, pulverize³, pulverise, comminute
10 letters: compaction
11 letters: compression³, infatuation⁵
12 letters: disintegrate⁴

The small number after each word is its number of syllables (humble² = 2 syllables).