crumb

American  

[kruhm] / krʌm /

noun

1. a small particle of bread, cake, etc., that has broken off.

2. a small particle or portion of anything; fragment; bit.

   Synonyms:

   speck, sliver, morsel, shred, scrap

3. the soft inner portion of a bread (distinguished from crust).

4. crumbs, a cake topping made of sugar, flour, butter, and spice, usually crumbled on top of the raw batter and baked with the cake.

5. Slang. a contemptibly objectionable or worthless person.

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verb (used with object)

1. Cooking. to dress or prepare with crumbs.

2. to break into crumbs or small fragments.

3. to remove crumbs from.

   The waiter crumbed the table.

crumb British  

/ krʌm /

noun

1. a small fragment of bread, cake, or other baked foods

2. a small piece or bit

   crumbs of information

3. the soft inner part of bread

4. slang a contemptible person

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verb

1. (tr) to prepare or cover (food) with breadcrumbs

2. to break into small fragments

adjective

1. (esp of pie crusts) made with a mixture of biscuit crumbs, sugar, etc

Other Word Forms

• crumbable
  adjective
• crumber
  noun
• decrumb
  verb (used with object)

Etymology

Origin of crumb

before 1000; Middle English crome, crume, Old English cruma; akin to Dutch kruim, German Krume crumb, Latin grūmus heap of earth

Explanation

A crumb is a very tiny piece of food. Some recipes instruct you to top a dish with bread crumbs before you bake it. Crumbs are what you're left with after finishing a box of cookies or a bag of tortilla chips — the bits that are too small to eat. You can also talk about other, non-edible types of crumbs, like the crumb of wisdom in an otherwise silly movie or the crumb of information a detective finds at a crime scene. The Old English root is cruma, "crumb," and it's thought that the silent b was influenced by words like dumb.

Example Sentences

The natural leavening gives them a lighter, crispier crust and an airy, mildly tangy crumb.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 9, 2026

When the last result was eventually declared in Inverness in the wee small hours, in a counting centre littered with empty pizza boxes, there was not even a crumb of comfort for the party.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

Their hopes of chasing Irish demons from their door had gone, but with a five-metre lineout to come there was a chance of a crumb.

From BBC • Mar. 14, 2026

Changes in crumb structure also led to denser bread with reduced softness.

From Science Daily • Feb. 8, 2026

“Dainty David,” said Mary Poppins with a sniff, as one bird picked up a crumb and dropped it again from its beak.

From "Mary Poppins" by P. L. Travers