CRASH OUT

/krash owt/

Verb

To become suddenly stressed out or overwhelmed by emotions; Having the urge to scream due to emotional overload

WHAT IS “CRASH OUT”

ORIGIN

You might have used one of these phrases: “I’m about to explode,” “I’m going to lose it,” or “I’m reaching my boiling point. Or you might have encountered the terms “meltdown” or “freak out.” Today’s DictionarINQ entry has almost the same meaning. 

To the TikTok generation though, to crash out is to “become suddenly, uncontrollably angry or distressed.”

Crash out used to have only two established meanings: to sleep (due to exhaustion) or to be involved in a vehicular accident. Nowadays, to crash out relates to the emotional, mental or physical shutdown one experiences, usually due to burnout, overstimulation, or being overwhelmed.

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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, several online sources credit a 2017 song by rapper NBA YoungBoy featuring the lyric “crash out if I’m nervous” with being one of the media sources that first used the phrase, although earlier evidence of this usage exists.

EXAMPLES

“I haven’t gotten any sleep from pulling all-nighters this week, I am starting to crash out.”

“I am literally crashing out at six in the morning because I have three exams today.”