to scrunch up
1
4.3
- phrasal verb
- /skrʌnʧ ʌp/
- Informal
:
agacharse
- As the thunder rumbled, she quickly scrunched up to avoid getting wet in the rain.
- scrunched up her nose
- face scrunched up
Examples
-
Her face actually gets all scrunched up when the Oom Pah Pahs start up.
Fiction book (2001) -
Her brother scrunched up his face.
Fiction book (1998) -
Her face would scrunch up in painful regret when she thought no one was looking.
Fiction book (1998) -
I shut my eyes, scrunched up my face so I wouldn't cry.
Fiction book (2001) -
Little Twig scrunched up his face.
Fiction book (1998) -
He'd sit all scrunched up in the chair, his big head right on his shoulders like he had no neck at all.
Fiction book (1998) -
A girl from the Barracuda team sat scrunched up on a bench.
Fiction book (2001) -
"Dammit, Helen," my mother would say, and her nose would scrunch up and twist.
Fiction book (2001) -
Benjy scrunched up his face and clenched his fists.
Fiction book (1998) -
He scrunched up his knees and lowered himself to the ground to tie his shoes.
Synonyms
102
1.8
To crouch or kneel down to a lower position
65
1.8
To lower your body close to the ground by bending your knees and leaning forward
39
7.5
To bend your knees and lower your body close to the ground
28
3.4
To bend your knees, lower your body, then stand up
8
6.0
Bend your knees and sit on your heels
3
4.2
To lower your body quickly by bending your knees to avoid being seen or hit
1
8.5
To crouch with knees bent and body close to the ground ready to move
To bend down or squeeze into a small, tight space
Antonyms
How Low
Surface Forms
Morphology
The core verb 'scrunch' already means to press or crush so something becomes wrinkled, and the particle 'up' here adds a sense of completion/intensification (make into a compact/wrinkled state). This V + up construction is a productive, compositional pattern in English (and has parallels in other languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents can reliably infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Scrunch up comes from the idea of scrunch, to squeeze or fold, and up, to make small. Imagine folding your knees and pulling your body into a small ball like a crumpled piece of paper, and that is why it means 'to crouch down'.