Meaning & use
number crunch
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Meanings
noununcountableinformal
The process of doing many calculations with large amounts of data, especially to find patterns or make decisions.
Grammar: Uncountable; often used in the phrase 'the number crunch' or 'number crunching'.
Patterns
- the number crunch
- do the number crunch
- number crunch on something
The number crunch showed that sales were falling in the north.
After hours of number crunch, they found a way to save money.
The team did a quick number crunch to see if the project was worth it.
verbintransitiveinformal
To do many calculations with large amounts of data, especially to find patterns or make decisions.
Grammar: No object; often used in the phrase 'number crunch' or 'crunch numbers'.
Patterns
- number crunch
- number crunch on something
- crunch numbers
She spent the weekend number crunching for the report.
We need to number crunch before we decide.
He is good at number crunching and spotting trends.
Word forms
| third person singular | number crunches |
|---|---|
| past tense | number crunched |
| past participle | number crunched |
| -ing form | number crunching |
Common combinations
- do the number crunch
- The analysts did the number crunch and presented the results.
- number crunch on something
- They did a number crunch on customer feedback.
- number crunching skills
- Her number crunching skills are excellent.
- number crunching exercise
- The number crunching exercise took all day.
Synonyms and how they differ
- calculation
- More formal and general; 'number crunch' is informal and suggests a lot of data.
- data analysis
- More formal and broader; 'number crunch' is a casual term for the same activity.
Word family
- number cruncher noun
- A person or machine that does many calculations.
- number crunching noun
- The activity of doing many calculations.
Commonly confused: number crunch or crunch numbers?
number crunch vs crunch numbers
This is a verb phrase meaning the same as 'number crunch'; 'number crunch' can be a noun or a verb, while 'crunch numbers' is only a verb.
Practice
The team spent the afternoon ______ to find the best price.
Choose one answer.
After 'spent the afternoon' we need the -ing form to show an activity, so 'number crunching' is correct. 'Number crunch' is the base form and does not fit after 'spent the afternoon'.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “number crunch”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.