Crunch (krŭnch), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Crunched (krŭncht); p. pr. & vb. n. Crunching.] [Prob. of imitative origin; or cf. D. schransen to eat heartily, or E. scrunch.] 1. To chew with force and noise; to craunch.

And their white tusks crunched o'er the whiter skull.
Byron.

2. To grind or press with violence and noise.

The ship crunched through the ice.
Kane.

3. To emit a grinding or craunching noise.

The crunching and ratting of the loose stones.
H. James.

Crunch, v. t. To crush with the teeth; to chew with a grinding noise; to craunch; as, to crunch a biscuit.

• to crush something with a noisy crackling sound, esp. with reference to food
  
• (slang) to calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations)
  
• a noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching
  
• a form of exercise based on a sit-up
  
• a critical moment or event