as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
with only three minutes left in the game, it was definitely crunch time
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of crunch time
Knicks star veteran guard Jalen Brunson often prevailed in crunch time, while Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox often missed key shots and made costly mistakes.
—
Mark Medina,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
In their four postseasons with Brunson, the Knicks are 18-10 in games that have gone to crunch time.
—
Lev Akabas,
Sportico.com,
3 June 2026
When the Indiana Fever fell to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night, Clark had two awful turnovers in crunch time, and led her team in that category with five, while simultaneously leading the team in scoring.
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Jon Root Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
30 May 2026
In crunch times, our duties overlap.
—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
18 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for crunch time
Mark Medina,
Forbes.com,
14 June 2026
In their four postseasons with Brunson, the Knicks are 18-10 in games that have gone to crunch time.
—
Lev Akabas,
Sportico.com,
3 June 2026
When the Indiana Fever fell to the Golden State Valkyries on Thursday night, Clark had two awful turnovers in crunch time, and led her team in that category with five, while simultaneously leading the team in scoring.
—
Jon Root Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
30 May 2026
In crunch times, our duties overlap.
—
Jeanne Phillips,
Mercury News,
18 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for crunch time
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunch time
Noun
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Andrea Davis, president and CEO of The Resiliency Initiative, has spent 25 years planning emergency response and crisis management for organizations including Disney, Walmart, the FIFA World Cup and Times Square's New Year's Eve celebration.
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Psychological trauma is also emerging as a major secondary crisis.
Noun
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Use the ax head of a garden mattock to cut through the roots at the base of the stump.
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The debate usually comes to a head in the summer, when high inland temperatures send bigger crowds to the beach, sometimes straining the mood of residents who live there.
Noun
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Keep in mind, there is a breaking point.
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Three of the Netherlands’ four goals came from this method, as Gakpo, Dumfries and Summerville stretched the Swedish defence to breaking point and opened up additional space in the middle.
Noun
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With the tension in the villa growing and reaching a boiling point following Casa Amor, Miller and Pessoa faced backlash over their takes on the latest Aftersun episode, which streamed on Saturday, June 26.
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Water temperatures in the area ranged from 185 to 200 degrees Fahrenheit, near the boiling point at Yellowstone's elevation.
Noun
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Shakespeare’s haughty Roman war hero, revered on the battlefield yet reviled by hungry plebeians, becomes the flash point in a young democracy tearing itself apart over power and sacrifice.
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The protests became a flash point, sparking similar incidents in several other cities in Tennessee and at least one in Florida.
Cite this Entry
“Crunch time.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunch%20time. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.
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