crumple
Americanverb (used with object)
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to press or crush into irregular folds or into a compact mass; bend out of shape; rumple; wrinkle.
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to cause to collapse or give way suddenly.
That right hook to the midsection crumpled him.
verb (used without object)
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to contract into wrinkles; shrink; shrivel.
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to give way suddenly; collapse.
The bridge crumpled under the weight of the heavy trucks.
noun
verb
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to collapse or cause to collapse
his courage crumpled
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to crush or cause to be crushed so as to form wrinkles or creases
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(intr) to shrink; shrivel
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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crumplesimple
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crumplessimple
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have crumpledperfect
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has crumpledperfect
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are crumplingprogressive
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am crumplingprogressive
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is crumplingprogressive
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have been crumplingperfect progressive
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has been crumplingperfect progressive
Past
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crumpledsimple
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had crumpledperfect
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was crumplingprogressive
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were crumplingprogressive
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had been crumplingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crumple
1400–50; late Middle English; variant of crimple
Explanation
Crumple is a verb that means to become wrinkled or creased. Your face might crumple over time as you age, or you might crumple a piece of paper before tossing it in the trash. Crumple comes from the Old English word crump meaning "bent, crooked," and it can describe something that has buckled or collapsed. If you're jumping up and down on a cardboard box, it'll eventually crumple under your weight and fold in on itself. Make sure you don't confuse crumple with the similar looking crumble, which means to break apart into small fragments. If you crumple something, it stays in one piece — it's just wrinkled or folded.
Vocabulary lists containing crumple
Number the Stars
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Purple Hibiscus
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Cormac McCarthy's "The Road"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To wrap a basketball, for example, you’d need to crumple the paper in a horrible mess or cut many pieces and tape them together with unsightly overlaps.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
His adversaries think he’ll crumple like yesterday’s broadsheet when they turn him away, and are perturbed to realize he’s more like the human equivalent of tissue hanging onto the heel of a shoe.
From Salon • Sep. 23, 2025
Materials designed to crumple or deform in a crash to protect pedestrians or passengers, for example, can be hard or impossible to repair.
From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2023
Every step brings risk that his muscles will cave, his legs will crumple, and calculations constantly nag in the back of his mind to prepare for a fall.
From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2023
Nate peeked up just in time to see him crumple to his knees.
From I Survived the American Revolution, 1776 by Lauren Tarshis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
