Meaning

• A noisy crackling sound; the sound usually associated with crunching.

• A critical moment or event.

• A problem that leads to a crisis.

• (exercise) A form of abdominal exercise, based on a sit-up but in which the lower back remains in contact with the floor.

• The overtime work required to catch up and finish a project, usually in the final weeks of development before release.

• A dessert consisting of a crunchy topping with fruit underneath.

• (generally in the plural) A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material with a friable or crunchy texture.

Meaning

• To crush something, especially food, with a noisy crackling sound.

  "When I came home, Susan was watching TV with her feet up on the couch, crunching a piece of celery."

• To be crushed with a noisy crackling sound.

  "Beetles crunched beneath the men's heavy boots as they worked."

• To calculate or otherwise process (e.g. to crunch numbers: to perform mathematical calculations). Presumably from the sound made by mechanical calculators.

  "That metadata makes it much easier for the search engine to crunch the data for queries."

• To grind or press with violence and noise.

• To emit a grinding or crunching noise.

• To compress (data) using a particular algorithm, so that it can be restored by decrunching.

• To make employees work overtime in order to meet a deadline in the development of a project.