Polysemy 273, Etymology 153, Idioms 173, English: "crush" in seven semantic categories, definitions, examples, origin, Spanish, Portuguese

Following is an interesting article copied verbatim as written in theidioms.com:

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Crush

The word “crush” has multiple meanings and definitions. it is used differently in each context. to easily understand all the meanings of?crush, we’ve divided them into seven different senses and sections.

“crush” in the sense of?love?or?infatuation.

§? feel love-sick for someone.

§? a strong desire to be with someone.

§? short-term but extreme feelings of love for someone.

§? to have strong feelings of love for someone, mostly one-sided.

§? to have romantic feelings for a person, usually with no results.

example sentences

1.???? i think steve?has a crush?on?our new english teacher; he always looks forward to her classes and even goes to ask questions after classes, though he doesn’t need to.

2.???? when i was young, i?had a big crush?on?one of the top actresses of our time; i even had posters of her all over my room.

3.???? teenagers usually?have a crush?on?famous personalities—film stars, celebrities, sportspersons—but as?they grow older, they outgrow these fantasies.

4.???? elvis presley was a major star of his time; he was so popular that many young women?had a crush?on?him.

5.???? my niece told me that she?has a crush on?the new boy in her class; she finds him very cute and attractive.

6.???? after being spurned twice, sally said she would never?have a crush?on?anyone again.

7.???? my sister thinks she?has a crush?on?someone i know. who can that be?

8.???? joe is the athletic champion of our school, and many girls?have a crush?on?him.

“crush” in the sense of?breaking?or?grinding.

§? to break something into tiny pieces.

§? to grind something hard into a powder.

example sentences

1.???? john?crushed?the can after using it.

2.???? add a piece of?crushed?ginger to make a tasty gravy.

3.???? the chainsaw badly?crushed?his hand while he was cutting trees.

4.???? i need to?crush?the black pepper to sprinkle on the dish.

5.???? crush?the garlic?by striking it multiple times with the stone.

“crush” in the sense of?spoiling?and?ruining.

§? to shatter or destroy something, such as a feeling, desire, and so on.

§? to ruin or spoil something, like a plan or project.

example sentences

1.???? andrew isn’t letting covid-19?crush?his holiday spirit.

2.???? a girl’s plans were?crushed?when she couldn’t meet her dad.

3.???? everything kids do is pure and untainted by society’s standards. no one should?crush?their happiness.

4.???? her lack of confidence may?crush?her dreams.

“crush” in the sense of?squeezing?or?pressing.

§? exert such force on something that it is damaged, broken, or injured.

example sentences

1.???? remove the dress from the suitcase to avoid getting it?crushed.

2.???? she?crushed?the cup and threw it into the trash.

3.???? the box got completely?crushed?when a heavy block fell on top of it.

4.???? those who want it spicy should?crush?the pepper at the end of cooking and add it to their portion.

5.???? a wall fell and?crushed?three men in the accident.

6.???? the years have rather sadly?crushed?the silk dress, but hopefully you can imagine it in its original, pristine condition.

“crush” in the sense of?defeating.

§? to absolutely defeat someone or something.

§? to perform very well in a specific task, situation, contest, or challenge.

§? to beat an opposite team or party in a game or competition.

example sentences

1.???? the england cricket team is strong enough to?crush?the opposition.

2.???? the defense minister called upon the military to help?crush?the rebellions.

3.???? america?crushed?russia by 10 to 3 in the last match in tokyo.

4.???? the austrian ski team is being?crushed?by the canadians.

5.???? amazon’s new strategies will?crush?small, offline businesses.

“crush” in the sense of?demoralization.

§? to irritate, disturb, or shock someone.

§? to be heartbroken.

example sentences

1.???? rob was?crushed?by the news of his wife’s car accident.

2.???? never listen to your haters, and don’t be?crushed?by them.

3.???? she was?crushed?when she lost her last chance to win the prize.

4.???? if you cheat on her again, it will?crush?her heart.

“crush” in the sense of the?crowd.

§? a swarm of people pressed up against one another.

§? a massive gathering of people

example sentences

1.???? we have to struggle through the?crush?to get to the train on time.

2.???? i’m not too fond of the?crush?at the mall on black friday sales.

3.???? i am pretty sure that anyone can get lost in this?crush.

4.???? my mum will stay with us, but it’ll be a bit of a?crush?in our house.?(british)

source:?theidioms.com

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From this same source, we have the following regarding its etymology or origin:

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“Origin of Crush

“Crush on somebody” is a variation on the older phrase “to have a crush on,” which has been around since at least 1995, when the Charlotte Observer in North Carolina described the verb?crush?as:

“to be totally gaga over a girl or guy. Usage: ‘Have you seen the way Wanda looks at that new guy in algebra class? She is totally crushing on him.'”

Crush was introduced in English around 1398, probably from the Old French verb?croissir, which meant to crack or break and make a noise.

The romantic sense of “crush” was first published in the 1884 journal of Isabella Maud Rittenhouse. It mentioned the object of the obsession:

“Wintie is weeping because her crush is gone.”

After a few years, the crush defined the infatuation itself.

“Miss Palfrey … consented to wear his bunch of blue violets. It was a ‘crush,’ you see, on both sides,” John Seymour Wood wrote in Yale yarns in 1895.

A linguist, Eric Partridge, suggested that crush might have been a variation on mash since, by 1870, mashed was a common way of saying flirtatious or head over heels in love, and to crush something was to mash it. To be on the mash, or to make a mash on someone, was to flirt with that person. A masher was a guy who could entice a young lady with a crafty glimpse and a smooth line of conversation.

Source:?theidioms.com

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Following are some translations into Spanish and Portuguese regarding these seven different contexts of “crush”:

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1) in the sense of love or infatuation

Spanish

enamoramiento pasajero

enamorarse de

estar enamorado de

Portuguese

apaixonar-se por

sentir atra??o por

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2) in the sense of breaking or grinding

Spanish

triturar

moler

machucar

macerar

Portuguese

triturar

pulverizar

amoar

moer

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3) in the sense of spoiling or ruining

Spanish

hacer trizas emocionalmente

Portuguese

arruinar

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4) in the sense of squeezing or pressing

Spanish

apretujón

aplastamiento

Portuguese

espremer

trilhar

esmagamento

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5) in the sense of defeating

Spanish

vencer totalmente

derrotar totalmente

aplastar

hacer mierda a

Portuguese

usar alguém como pano de ch?o

destruir

aniquilar

quebrar os ossos

arrancar o sulco

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6) in the sense of demoralization

Spanish

derribar

desinflar

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7) in the sense of the crowd

Spanish

multitude densa

Portuguese

multid?es

enxame de pessoas

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Sources

Magic English Spanish App

www.bestdict.mob app

my own translations