as in crisis
a time or state of affairs requiring prompt or decisive action
with only three minutes left in the game, it was definitely crunch time
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Recent Examples of crunch time
But in crunch time, Fournier was the man who got the ball in the biggest moment of the game and put the Canadians away for good.
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Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 6 Aug. 2024
Shippers are in crunch time as the Sept. 30 negotiation deadline nears.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 5 Aug. 2024
With the summit over now, as of Friday crunch time rapidly approaches, as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear Wednesday.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2024
Further Reading The death march: the problem of crunch time in game development
After playing for about two hours and talking to the team behind the project, Cain said the VP asked him directly how long the demo needed to become a shippable game.
—Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 20 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for crunch time 
Kyle Feldscher, CNN, 6 Aug. 2024
Shippers are in crunch time as the Sept. 30 negotiation deadline nears.
—Glenn Taylor, Sourcing Journal, 5 Aug. 2024
With the summit over now, as of Friday crunch time rapidly approaches, as former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi made clear Wednesday.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 July 2024
Further Reading The death march: the problem of crunch time in game development
After playing for about two hours and talking to the team behind the project, Cain said the VP asked him directly how long the demo needed to become a shippable game.
—Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 20 June 2024
See all Example Sentences for crunch time
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crunch time
Noun
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Information about suicide warning signs and resources for people in crisis can be found at the end of this story.Marley Malenfant, Austin American-Statesman, 22 Nov. 2024
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Over the course of the four-hour training, people learn how to identify the signs, ask the right questions, be the most active listener and direct those in crisis to the proper resources to help keep them safe.Steven Martinez, Journal Sentinel, 21 Nov. 2024
Noun
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Cal Fire representatives said the current parking mess has already impacted them because the driveway to their station enters the highway not far from the trail head.J. Harry Jones, Ramona Sentinel, 19 July 2017
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Delimitros said one of the truck’s side view mirrors struck her in the head, causing minor injuries.David Hernandez, sandiegouniontribune.com, 19 July 2017
Noun
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Your simmering frustrations from the past month or two reach a bit of a breaking point early in the month before changing form, or perhaps putting you in a better position to actually do something about it in the coming weeks.Steph Koyfman, Condé Nast Traveler, 28 Oct. 2024
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However, things reached a breaking point in episode 8 when it was revealed that Stephen went off to do a sleep test one night, but ended up sexting another woman while there, despite being engaged to Monica.Joelle Goldstein, People.com, 23 Oct. 2024
Noun
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However, tensions within the family reached a boiling point when Jamie Dutton (Wes Bentley) made a bold move by publicly calling for his father's impeachment.Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Nov. 2024
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Islanders have been dealing with economic turmoil stemming from a financial crisis that reached its boiling point in 2015, when Puerto Rico accumulated about $72 billion in public debt — yet, unlike other U.S. jurisdictions, couldn't legally file for bankruptcy.Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, 31 Oct. 2024
Noun
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Many flash points remain along the border and could be reactivated at any time by Xi’s aggressive regime.Harsh V. Pant, Foreign Affairs, 14 Nov. 2024
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That flash point foretells an America becoming more polarized the hotter things get, more sharply divided between its rural and urban communities and more hateful and more dangerous.Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, 19 Oct. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near crunch time
Cite this Entry
“Crunch time.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crunch%20time. Accessed 26 Nov. 2024.
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