Definition of "crunch" []

• To chew with a noisy crackling sound. (verb-transitive)
• To crush, grind, or tread noisily. (verb-transitive)
• Slang To perform operations on; manipulate or process (numerical or mathematical data). (verb-transitive)
• To chew noisily with a crackling sound: crunching on celery. (verb-intransitive)
• To move with a crushing sound: crunching through the snow. (verb-intransitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "She saw the dying and exhausted dogs, the frost-rimed, weary men; she heard the quick _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of the snow-shoes hurrying ahead to break the trail; she felt the cruel torture of the"
• "She saw the dying and exhausted dogs, the frost-rimed, weary men; she heard the quick _crunch, crunch, crunch_ of the snow-shoes hurrying ahead to break the trail; she felt the cruel torture of the _mal de raquette_, the shrivelling bite of the frost, the pain of snow blindness, the hunger that yet could not stomach the frozen fish nor the hairy, black caribou meat."
• "Then there was a _crunch, crunch, crunch_, as if pippins were being reduced to pulp, and more twigs were heard to snap."