cri‧sis S3 W2 / kraɪsəs, kraɪsɪs / 名词 ( 复数形式 crises / -siz / ) [可数和不可数名词]

1 a situation in which there are a lot of problems that must be dealt with quickly so that the situation does not get worse or more dangerous → emergency :

The country now faces an economic crisis .

The Prime Minister was criticized for the way in which he handled the crisis .

the current debt crisis

a major political crisis

I was relieved that we had averted yet another financial crisis .

Oil companies were heavily criticized when they made large profits during the oil crisis of the 1970s.

The car industry is now in crisis .

He doesn’t seem to be very good at crisis management .

2 a time when a personal emotional problem or situation has reached its worst point :

an emotional crisis

In times of crisis, you find out who your real friends are.

He seems to be going through a crisis .

She has reached a crisis point in her career.

Both parties experienced an identity crisis (= feeling of uncertainty about their purpose ) at the end of the ’90s.

3 crisis of confidence a situation in which people no longer believe that a government or an economic system is working properly, and will no longer support it or work with it :

There seems to be a crisis of confidence in the economy.

4 crisis of conscience a situation in which someone feels worried or uncomfortable because they have done something which they think is wrong or immoral

→ midlife crisis

COLLOCATIONS

形容词

an economic/political/financial etc crisis The country was headed into an economic crisis.

a constitutional crisis (= relating to the way a country is governed ) The scandal caused the greatest constitutional crisis of modern times.

a major/serious/deep/severe crisis Our farming industry has been hit by a serious crisis.

a worsening/deepening crisis The strikes came during a worsening economic crisis.

动词

create/cause/provoke a crisis The people fled the country, creating a huge refugee crisis.

precipitate a crisis formal (= start one ) The rising oil prices precipitated an energy crisis.

face a crisis Many families are facing a debt crisis.

resolve/overcome a crisis (= deal with it so that it no longer exists ) We still hope that the hostage crisis can be resolved by negotiation.

handle a crisis (= deal with one ) Can he handle the crisis in our prisons?

defuse a crisis (= stop it developing further ) Diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis have failed.

avert a crisis (= stop it happening ) More talks were proposed in an attempt to avert the crisis.

NOUN + crisis

a debt/food/housing etc crisis The failure of the crop this year will create a food crisis.

a cash crisis (= a lack of money ) In April the company sold another 30% of its stock to ease its cash crisis.

an energy/oil/fuel crisis There is an energy crisis here, with power cuts happening daily.

crisis + NOUN

crisis management (= dealing with a crisis ) Most of my job consists of crisis management.

crisis point (= the point at which a problem becomes a crisis ) Events were now reaching crisis point.

a crisis situation Emergency powers were needed to deal with the crisis situation.

crisis talks (= discussions about a crisis ) The Prime Minister went back to London for crisis talks.