crusher
English
Etymology
From crush + -er (agent noun suffix), or, for one who elicits a crush, + -er (patient suffix).
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈkɹʌʃə/
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun
crusher (plural crushers)
- Someone or something that crushes.
- A machine designed to crush rocks.
- (slang, dated) A policeman.
- 1851, Mayhew, Henry, “The Literature of Costermongers”, in London Labour and the London Poor, volume 1, page 25:
- Anything about the police sets them a talking at once. […] 'The blessed crushers are everywhere,' shouted one. 'I wish I'd been there to have had a shy at the eslops,' said another. And then a man sung out: 'O, don't I like the Bobbys?'
- 1977, Le Carré, John, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society, published 2010, page 110:
- Back in the lobby he bought a copy of Time but didn't like the way the plain-clothes crushers looked at him, and left.
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- One who elicits a crush or intense infatiation in another.
- 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 4, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, OCLC 2057953:
- “She is a crusher, ain’t she now!” Mr. Foker asked of his companion.
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Derived terms
- beetle-crusher
- bit crusher
- crumb crusher
- crusher gauge
- gyratory crusher
- mud-crusher
- quartz crusher
- sandshoe crusher
Translations
someone or something that crushes
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