Meaning & use
money crunch
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Meaning
nouncountableinformal
a situation in which money becomes suddenly difficult to get or to spend, especially for a business or government
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a money crunch' or 'money crunches', and it often follows 'a' or 'the'.
Patterns
- a money crunch
- face a money crunch
- ease the money crunch
The city faced a money crunch after tax income fell.
Small businesses felt the money crunch first when banks stopped lending.
The government announced new measures to ease the money crunch.
Word forms
| plural | money crunches |
|---|
Common combinations
- face a money crunch
- Many families face a money crunch when one parent loses a job.
- ease the money crunch
- The central bank cut interest rates to ease the money crunch.
- a severe money crunch
- The company survived a severe money crunch last winter.
- money crunch hits
- The money crunch hit schools and hospitals hardest.
Synonyms and how they differ
- credit crunch
- More technical and usually about banks being unwilling to lend, while 'money crunch' is broader and can apply to any shortage of cash.
- cash shortage
- Focuses on not having enough physical money or funds at a particular time; 'money crunch' suggests a wider economic problem.
- financial squeeze
- Similar meaning but often used for personal or household budgets, not just big institutions.
Opposites
Word family
- money-crunch adjective
- Used before a noun, as in 'money-crunch talks'.
Commonly confused: money crunch or credit crunch?
money crunch vs credit crunch
A credit crunch is specifically a reduction in the amount banks are willing to lend; a money crunch is any sudden shortage of money.
Practice
The hospital is facing a serious ______ after its budget was cut.
Choose one answer.
'Money crunch' means a sudden shortage of money, which fits a budget cut. 'Money deal' means an agreement about money, and 'money on the books' means money recorded officially, neither of which fits the idea of a shortage.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “money crunch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.