1. Physically or spiritually devastating; often used in combination
   "a crushing rejection"; "bone-crushing"; "a crushing blow";
   - devastating

1. Forceful prevention; putting down by power or authority
   "the crushing of heresy";
   - suppression, quelling, stifling

1. Use force to compress, making out of normal shape or condition
   "crush an aluminium can";
   - squash, squelch, mash, squeeze, squidge [informal], squish [informal]
    
2. Break into small pieces
   "The car crushed the toy"
    
3. Hurt or bruise with a squashing force
   "crush a toe";
   - jam
    
4. Become injured, broken, or distorted by pressure
   "The plastic bottle crushed against the wall"
    
5. Dominate or subjugate by unjust use of one's authority and power
   "The government crushes political activists";
   - oppress, suppress
    
6. Come out better in a competition, race, or conflict; defeat thoroughly
   "The underdog crushed the defending champion";
   - beat, beat out, shell [US], trounce, vanquish
    
7. Humiliate or depress completely
   "She was crushed by his refusal of her invitation";
   - smash
    
8. Make ineffective
   "Martin Luther King tried to crush racial discrimination";
   - break down

Derived forms: crushings

See also: destructive

Type of: abase, act, alter, bar, break, break up, bruise, chagrin, change, come apart, contuse [technical], exceed, fall apart, fragment, fragmentise [Brit], fragmentize, humble, humiliate, modify, mortify, move, outdo, outgo [archaic], outmatch, outperform, outstrip, press, prevention, separate, split up, surmount, surpass

Encyclopedia: Crushing