clutch vs crunch

clutch

noun
  • An important or critical situation. 

  • The claw of a predatory animal or bird. 

  • A brood of chickens or a sitting of eggs. 

  • A device to interrupt power transmission, commonly used to separate the engine and gearbox in a car. 

  • A fastener that attaches to the back of a tack pin to secure an accessory to clothing. (See Clutch (pin fastener).) 

  • A small handbag or purse with no straps or handle. 

  • A group or bunch (of people or things). 

  • Any device for gripping an object, as at the end of a chain or tackle. 

  • A grip, especially one seen as rapacious or evil. 

  • The pedal in a car that disengages power and torque transmission from the engine (through the drivetrain) to the drive wheels. 

  • A difficult maneuver 

adj
  • Performing or tending to perform well in difficult, high-pressure situations. 

verb
  • To unexpectedly or luckily succeed in a difficult activity. 

  • To hatch. 

  • To seize, as though with claws. 

  • To grip or grasp tightly. 

  • To win in a 1vX (one versus X) situation. 

crunch

noun
  • A critical moment or event. 

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

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

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

  • A shortage. 

  • A problem that leads to a crisis. 

  • A small piece created by crushing; a piece of material with a friable or crunchy texture. 

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

  • The symbol #. 

verb
  • To emit a grinding or crunching noise. 

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

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

  • To be crushed with a noisy crackling sound. 

  • To cause the gears to emit a crunching sound by releasing the clutch before the gears are properly synchronised. 

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

  • To grind or press with violence and noise. 

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

How often have the words clutch and crunch occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )