crumble
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
-
to fall into small pieces; break or part into small fragments.
- Synonyms:
- disintegrate
-
to decay or disintegrate gradually.
The ancient walls had crumbled.
noun
-
a crumbly or crumbled substance.
-
crumbles, bits of crisp bacon, bread, etc., added to other foods, especially as a topping.
-
British Dialect. crumb; particle; fragment.
verb
-
to break or be broken into crumbs or fragments
-
(intr) to fall apart or away
his resolution crumbled
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
crumblesimple
-
crumblessimple
-
have crumbledperfect
-
has crumbledperfect
-
am crumblingprogressive
-
are crumblingprogressive
-
is crumblingprogressive
-
have been crumblingperfect progressive
-
has been crumblingperfect progressive
Past
-
crumbledsimple
-
had crumbledperfect
-
was crumblingprogressive
-
were crumblingprogressive
-
had been crumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of crumble
1375–1425; earlier crymble, crimble; late Middle English kremelen, akin to crome crumb; see -le
Explanation
To crumble is to come apart into tiny pieces. If the doughnuts you bring to work crumble before you get there, you co-workers will have nothing but crumbs to snack on. Baked goods seem to crumble easily, but other things tend to crumble too: old houses, over time; sand castles; fragile ruins; and art objects made from clay. Anything that falls apart, especially into small bits, can be said to crumble. The root of the word is the Old English gecrymman, "to break into crumbs," which in turn comes from cruma, "crumb or fragment."
Vocabulary lists containing crumble
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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.
See Examples For:
But cliffs tend to crumble slowly over time, punctuated with a sudden collapse.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Venezuela's interim leader declared a state of emergency Wednesday as two massive earthquakes caused buildings in the capital to crumble and forced the closure of the country's main airport.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
In Spielberg’s eyes, another disaster would cause the stalwart nationalism to crumble.
From Salon ● Jun. 13, 2026
The evidence suggests that extreme heating from the Sun is cracking the asteroid's surface, releasing trapped gases and causing the body to slowly crumble apart.
From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026
All the handholds in reach above and below had collapsed with the rock; the only grips looked like they would crumble if he touched them.
From "Impossible Creatures" by Katherine Rundell
But it’s now clear that once you abandon all restraint and say the ends justify the means, even if there’s an argument for it, the whole legal edifice crumbles.
From Salon ● Jun. 4, 2026
"The irony is now we're just studying a regular comet and it crumbles in front of our eyes," said principal investigator Dennis Bodewits, also a professor in Auburn University's Department of Physics.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 21, 2026
But any debate over female filmmakers in genre cinema crumbles under the considerable evidence and attendant indignation to be found in “1000 Women in Horror.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 17, 2026
"We watch a weather report and our whole world crumbles around us - it's taken a toll on our health if I'm perfectly honest with you - it's taken over our lives," he said.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
Mortar crumbles from the bricks and a hushed group of voices begin a chorus of “God Save the King.”
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
For evidence, look at the number of occasions when clubs have crumbled under the wealth of talent signed or the challenge of managing the personalities of superstars.
From BBC ● Jun. 30, 2026
Serve hot with crumbled Cotija cheese, sour cream, guacamole and pico de gallo.
From Salon ● Jun. 29, 2026
Daniela Oropeza, 34, who works in tourism and lives in the seaside community of Catia La Mar, said a district known as Playa Grande had crumbled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
Wilmer Azuaje posted a video of himself at the airport as parts of the terminal’s roof crumbled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
He stopped the car, and I could see that the edge of the road bordered a vertical slope that crumbled into vacancy, a fall of perhaps two thousand feet.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
In 2022, Human Rights Watch reported that New Bell was housing 4,700 prisoners within its crumbling walls - four times its capacity.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
It’s harder when you’ve lived a longer life and things are built in a certain way and it’s hard to have that crumbling down.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
As their impatience grows, the window for Odysseus to reclaim his kingdom and restore a crumbling world to Zeus’ law — essentially open-hearted hospitality and treating others as you’d be treated — is closing.
From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026
Dozens of crumbling buildings in Venezuela's decimated earthquake zone bear a spray-painted letter 'D' -- a sign that buries any hope of finding life beneath the rubble.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
She imagined the North End crumbling apart, like her village back in Italy.
From "I Survived the Great Molasses Flood, 1919" 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.
