'CRUD' stands for Create, Read, Update, and Delete. These four fundamental operations pertain to persistent storage within the realm of web development. They represent the primary activities one can conduct on a database or any data storage system.

Within a web application's framework, CRUD operations are generally understood as the processes of submitting forms to generate new records, reading and showcasing data, modifying existing records, and eradicating them. These key operations are crucial in most web applications that have interactions with a database.