credit crunch
/ˈkrɛdɪt ˌkrʌntʃ
/noun
A sudden sharp reduction in the availability of money or credit from banks and other lenders: the beleaguered company has become the latest victim of the credit crunch...
- Economic recovery will also be impaired by the ongoing credit crunch.
- The corporate bond market, which has been vibrant for a few months, continued its invulnerability to the credit crunch this week.
- What could really hurt the industry is the credit crunch.
Synonyms
credit squeeze, economic decline, downturn, slump, slowdown, trough, recession, depression;
stagnation, stagflation;
hard times
informal bust
Derivatives
credit-crunched
- In these credit-crunched times, one industry is still booming: oil.
- You want to buy a car and, in these credit-crunched times, secondhand looks like the sensible choice.
- The timing, with everyone else credit-crunched and recession-haunted, made it all the more loathsome.