and ruin, come to dust; decay, deteriorate, fall into decay, rot or waste away, molder, decompose, degenerate; disappear piecemeal, fall off, vanish, fade away, decline, perish, crumbly, adj. friable, apt to crumble, soft; brittle, shivery, fragile, frail, breakable, frangible, fissile, crumple, v. 1. rumple, wrinkle, crinkle, pucker, crimple, rimple; ruffle, corrugate.
2. collapse, fall, topple, tumble, break up, shatter; give way, break down, go or fall to pieces, Inf. go to smash; shrink, shrivel, crush, squash, crunch, v. 1. chew noisily, munch, gnaw, champ, chump, Dial, chomp, Inf. scrunch, Dial, chaw, craunch; chew, masticate.
2. crush, grind, grate, rasp; pulverize, shatter, smash, pound. crusade, n. 1. campaign, holy war; cause, movement; march, struggle, push.
-v. 2. march on or against, move on; campaign, struggle, do battle, take up arms, take up the gauntlet; take up a cause, fight or work for, lobby, canvass; stump, stump the countryside, Inf. beat the drum, Inf. take to the streets, Inf fight the good fight, Inf. go on the warpath; knock on every door, go door to door, go to the people, barnstorm, Inf. take to the stump, crusader, n. campaigner, fighter, battler; reformer, visionary, dreamer, idealist; advocate, champion, enthusiast, zealot, fanatic, partisan; liberal, progressive, radical. crush, v. 1. squash, mash, press down, compress, cramp, constrict, tighten; squeeze, pinch, bruise, contuse; crumple, rumple, wrinkle.
2. pound, grind, smash, shiver, splinter, shatter, pulverize, granulate, powder, triturate, comminute, reduce to powder; crumble, fragment, break up; trample, stomp, crush under foot.
3. press, squeeze, force, force out, extract, express.
4. embrace, hug, enfold, clutch, grip, hold tight, Inf squeeze the life out of.
5. destroy, demolish, raze, level, ruin, wreck, topple, flatten; erase, blot out.
6. oppress, persecute, browbeat, ride roughshod over; suppress, subdue, quell, quash, put down, squelch, scotch; vanquish, overcome, overpower, conquer.
7. shame, abash, degrade, abase, disgrace, mortify, humiliate, chagrin. crust, n. 1. cover, coat, layer, blanket, mantle, topping; skin, coating, film, haze, scale, slough; scab, incrustation, cake.
2. shell, casing, hull, husk, rind, bark, cortex, crusty, adj. harsh, surly, rude, curt, brusque, short; sour, bitter, caustic; testy, prickly, touchy, fretful; crabbed, grouchy, ill-natured. See crabbed (defs. 1, 2). cry, v. 1. weep, shed tears, boohoo, sob; bawl, blubber, whimper, mewl, pule, whine, snivel; moan, wail, groan, ululate; lament, mourn, bewail, keen.
2. shout, yell, Inf. holler, squall, yowl, bellow, whoop; roar, rend the air, howl; scream, shriek, screech, Scot. and North Eng. skirl; sing out, vociferate, ejaculate, voice, utter; bruit, broadcast, proclaim, exclaim, announce; blazon, clamor, blare, hawk; call out, hail, address, call to, hallo, halloo, halloa, Fox Hunting, tallyho; yo-ho, Inf. yoohoo, hello, hi, hey; cheer, huzza, hurrah, bravo, SI. hubba.
3. bark, yelp, bay, bowwow, woof; meow, miaow, purr, caterwaul; whinny, neigh, bray, moo; caw, crow, cock-a-doodle-doo; cluck, cackle, hoot, gabble, quack, squawk; chirp, cheep, peep, witter, coo, cuckoo; bleat, baa, squeal, oink.
4. implore, beg, plead, beseech, solicit, entreat, appeal; supplicate, adjure, pray, obtest, obsecrate.