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
Bud, Not Buddy
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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Going Down: Synonyms for "Fall"
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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:
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
So, the SPX chart remains bullish, and we’ll see if the recent sell signals crumble in the face of yet another rally or if they can hold their position.
From MarketWatch ● May 22, 2026
It’s got cashew mozzarella, tomato sauce, Italian sausage crumble and more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 24, 2026
His gloved hands cradled the pages as if they might crumble at his touch.
From "The Reader" by Traci Chee
Cake crumbles, graham-cracker crust toppings and star-spangled sprinkles are a whole other challenge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
"Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling."
From BBC ● May 18, 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
Then add the feta as a single slab, not crumbles.
From Salon ● Feb. 19, 2026
My body crumbles as I fall out of my seat and lunge toward the door, landing at Suma’s feet.
From "The Last Cuentista" by Donna Barba Higuera
Lisbeth Portillo, 58, was lying on a bed in a second-floor room shared with 16 other women when the building crumbled.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2026
Andrea Canonico focused on her breathing to stay calm as she lay trapped under a building that had crumbled during the two powerful earthquakes that struck Venezuela last week.
From Barron's ● Jul. 1, 2026
Given their poor run of results - two wins in nine - and faced with the task of dislodging the Kiwis on the road-like pitch and in extreme temperatures, England could have crumbled.
From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026
Ellison’s CBS takeover crumbled the once-sterling reputation of that network’s news organization.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
Fortunately, some of the crumbled rock had actually formed a makeshift ramp to the roof.
From "Half Upon a Time" by James Riley
The new rich zip past crumbling neoclassical townhouses on Havana's famous seaside Malecon boulevard in SUVs.
From Barron's ● Jul. 3, 2026
Those low rates spurred the mortgage market to dangerous heights before it all came crumbling down.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
Children won’t get "a first-class education in second-class schools", she argued after hundreds of schools had to close as a result of crumbling concrete.
From BBC ● Jun. 22, 2026
The third project in Wilmington, near the Port of Los Angeles, would have fixed crumbling sidewalks and added high-visibility crosswalks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026
“So you traded an Italian villa and wine for a crumbling Cotswold and an illegal lab pet. You’re not very good at trades, are you, Lily?”
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
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.
