crush

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
crush/krʌʃ/

▶verb

• 1 deform, pulverize, or push inwards by compressing forcefully.

• 2 violently subdue (opposition or a rebellion).

• 3 make (someone) feel great disappointment or embarrassment.

▶noun

• 1 a crowd of people pressed closely together.

• 2 informal an intense infatuation.

  ■ a person that one is infatuated with.

• 3 a drink made from the juice of pressed fruit.

• 4 (also crush pen) a fenced passage with one narrow end used for handling cattle or sheep.

– derivatives
crushable adjective,
crusher noun,
crushing adjective,
crushingly adverb.

– origin ME: from OFr. cruissir, ‘gnash teeth, crack’.