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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Recent Examples of crunch time
But with the game on the line in crunch time, Anunoby forced a Cunningham mid-range miss, Bridges forced a Cunningham turnover on a drive to the rim, then Anunoby forced another mid-range miss on the game’s final possession.
—
Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2025
Senate Republicans are facing crunch time on a long-overdue budget resolution, which has divided their conference over the possibility of cutting Medicaid and adding language to increase the debt ceiling by as much as $5 trillion.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 1 Apr. 2025
Instead, Washington picked up two wins in crunch time thanks to the league’s leading scorer, Brittney Sykes.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 19 May 2025
The Minutemen, who lost a 3-2 thriller to Wayland in the opener, continued to show their improvement in crunch time by taking the next two points on a kill and block from Manuelian.
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for crunch time
Kristian Winfield, New York Daily News, 27 Apr. 2025
Senate Republicans are facing crunch time on a long-overdue budget resolution, which has divided their conference over the possibility of cutting Medicaid and adding language to increase the debt ceiling by as much as $5 trillion.
—Alexander Bolton, The Hill, 1 Apr. 2025
Instead, Washington picked up two wins in crunch time thanks to the league’s leading scorer, Brittney Sykes.
—Sabreena Merchant, New York Times, 19 May 2025
The Minutemen, who lost a 3-2 thriller to Wayland in the opener, continued to show their improvement in crunch time by taking the next two points on a kill and block from Manuelian.
—Tom Mulherin, Boston Herald, 12 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for crunch time
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunch time
Noun
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Things happen, our heroes react, a potentially world-ending crisis is easily averted and everything is wrapped up in time for dinner.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
26 July 2025
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Yet this rift still coincides with a deepening fiscal crisis.—
Joël Té-Léssia Assoko,
semafor.com,
25 July 2025
Noun
-
There's always one shot that leaves a golfer shaking his or her head.—
Mike Hutton,
Post-Tribune,
19 July 2017
-
Delimitros said one of the truck’s side view mirrors struck her in the head, causing minor injuries.—
David Hernandez,
sandiegouniontribune.com,
19 July 2017
Noun
-
No one wins when the family feuds as Jackie and Chantel reach their breaking point.—
Dominique Fluker,
Essence,
24 July 2025
-
But excessive borrowing and speculation brought the sector to a breaking point.—
Giulia Carbonaro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
20 July 2025
Noun
-
The sheriff’s simmering anger, which reaches boiling point as a result of Eddington’s growing air of claustrophobia and his own loosening grip on his life, leads to Cross assassinating Garcia.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 July 2025
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As the summer temperatures reach a boiling point, numerous artists — from Alex Warren to BTS — are turning up the heat with new releases.—
Hannah Dailey,
Billboard,
18 July 2025
Noun
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These minerals, key to electronic components and batteries, have become a new flash point in trade relations.—
Brit Morse,
Fortune,
9 July 2025
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Abrego Garcia became a flash point over President Trump’s immigration policies when he was deported in March to a notorious megaprison in El Salvador.—
Michael Kunzelman,
Los Angeles Times,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crunch time.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunch%20time. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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