crush vs fail

crush

verb
  • To feel infatuation or unrequited love. 

  • To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity, or to force together into a mass. 

  • To reduce to fine particles by pounding or grinding. 

  • To be or become broken down or in, or pressed into a smaller volume or area, by external weight or force. 

  • To give a compressed or foreshortened appearance to. 

  • To overwhelm by pressure or weight. 

  • To make certain colors so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display. 

  • To do impressively well at (sports events; performances; interviews; etc.). 

  • To oppress or grievously burden. 

  • To overcome completely; to subdue totally. 

noun
  • A standing stock or cage with movable sides used to restrain livestock for safe handling. 

  • The human object of such infatuation or affection. 

  • A crowd that produces uncomfortable pressure. 

  • The process of crushing cane to remove the raw sugar, or the season when this process takes place. 

  • A violent collision or compression; a crash; destruction; ruin. 

  • A group or gang. 

  • A crowd control barrier. 

  • The situation where certain colors are so similar as to be hard to distinguish, either as a deliberate effect or as a limitation of a display. 

  • A paraphilia involving arousal from seeing things destroyed by crushing. 

  • A violent crowding. 

  • A drink made by squeezing the juice out of fruit. 

  • Violent pressure, as of a moving crowd. 

  • An infatuation with somebody one is not dating. 

fail

verb
  • To be wanting to, to be insufficient for, to disappoint, to desert; to disappoint one's expectations. 

  • Not to achieve a particular stated goal. (Usage note: The direct object of this word is usually an infinitive.) 

  • To become unable to meet one's engagements; especially, to be unable to pay one's debts or discharge one's business obligation; to become bankrupt or insolvent. 

  • To receive one or more non-passing grades in academic pursuits. 

  • To give a student a non-passing grade in an academic endeavour. 

  • To be wanting; to fall short; to be or become deficient in any measure or degree up to total absence. 

  • To neglect. 

  • To be unsuccessful. 

  • Of a machine, etc.: to cease to operate correctly. 

adj
  • Unsuccessful; inadequate; unacceptable in some way. 

noun
  • A failure, especially of a financial transaction (a termination of an action). 

  • A failure (condition of being unsuccessful). 

  • A failing grade in an academic examination. 

  • Poor quality; substandard workmanship. 

  • A failure (something incapable of success). 

  • A piece of turf cut from grassland. 

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