Meaning & use
car crash
Last updated
Meanings
nouncountable
an accident in which a car hits another vehicle or object, often causing injury or damage.
Grammar: Countable: use a/an or a plural — a car crash, several car crashes.
Patterns
- be in a car crash
- die in a car crash
- a car crash involving someone
She was in a car crash last winter and still feels nervous behind the wheel.
The road was closed for hours after a car crash near the bridge.
Two people were slightly hurt in a car crash on the highway this morning.
nounsingularinformalfigurative
a complete failure or disaster, especially in business, politics, or someone's personal life.
Grammar: Used mainly in the singular and often after a: the whole thing was a car crash.
Patterns
- be a car crash
- a car crash of a something
The launch was a car crash from start to finish.
His first year as manager was a car crash, and he left in June.
Word forms
| plural | car crashes |
|---|
Common combinations
- be killed in a car crash
- The singer was killed in a car crash at the age of 27.
- a fatal car crash
- Police are investigating a fatal car crash on the coast road.
- survive a car crash
- He survived a car crash that destroyed the whole front of his car.
- cause a car crash
- Drivers who use their phones cause car crashes every day.
- a car crash victim
- The hospital treated several car crash victims overnight.
Synonyms and how they differ
Word family
- crash verb
- to hit something violently, as in The car crashed into a wall.
- crashed adjective
- badly damaged in an accident, as in a crashed car.
Commonly confused: car crash or car accident? car crash or crash course?
car crash vs car accident
Nearly the same meaning, but car accident can also cover small bumps with no injuries, while car crash usually suggests a more violent impact.
car crash vs crash course
A completely different phrase meaning a short, intense period of study; do not mix it up with car crash.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'car crash' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Car crash' is a countable noun phrase, so it fits after 'There was a' with 'on the ring road'. The other options wrongly use it as a verb, which English does not allow (the verb is simply 'crash').
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “car crash”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.