A crushing defeat, burden, or disappointment is a very great or severe one.since their crushing defeat in the local elections. Find 478 different ways to say CRUSHING, along with antonyms, related words, and example sentences at Thesaurus.com. CRUSHING meaning: 1. severe: 2. severe. Learn more. crushing (countable and uncountable, plural crushings) The action of the verb to crush. A former method of execution by placing heavy weights on the victim. (in the plural) Crushed material. oilseed crushings The act of subjecting sugarcane to crushing. Define crushing. crushing synonyms, crushing pronunciation, crushing translation, English dictionary definition of crushing. v. crushed , crush·ing , crush·es v. tr. 1. a. To press between opposing bodies so as to break, compress, or injure: The falling rock crushed the car. b. 3 meanings: 1. devastating; overwhelming 2. extremely heavy 3. defeat; repression; putting down. Click for more definitions. CRUSHING definition: 1. severe: 2. severe. Learn more. Synonyms for CRUSHING: overwhelming, painful, unacceptable, unbearable, uncomfortable, harsh, insufferable, intolerable; Antonyms of CRUSHING: sustainable, tolerable. The meaning of CRUSH is to squeeze or force by pressure so as to alter or destroy structure. How to use crush in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Crush. Something that's crushing is terribly upsetting or overwhelming. Your favorite team's crushing loss to its rival comes as a huge, disappointing surprise.