crumble
Americanverb (used with object)
-
crumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crumbled,
past participle, past
-
crumbling
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
crumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
crumbled,
past participle, past
-
crumbling
present participle
-
to fall into small pieces; break or part into small fragments.
- Synonyms:
- disintegrate
-
to decay or disintegrate gradually.
The ancient walls had crumbled.
noun
-
crumbles
plural
-
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:
"I have no doubt that the enemy will crumble," he declared.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026
But in the months since, his pageant dreams have begun to crumble.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 27, 2026
A financial plan built for age 90 may crumble if a person lives to 110.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 26, 2026
And then watching that kind of crumble, those layers are peeled apart based off of what happens to her and what she sees happen to her friends.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
He felt the mental wall he’d erected to keep the nightmares at bay slowly crumble to dust, so that nothing would stop them from advancing.
From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray
The toasted sourdough crumbles, more ice shavings than proper pucks, also lowered the score.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
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
She added, “Today, that narrative crumbles, and it does so with the full force of a court ruling.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 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
I hand him a slice of bread, and when he thinks I’m not looking, he breaks off a corner and crumbles it on the floor for the chickens.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
The Swedish American Investment Corp. put most of its assets under the sway of Ivar Kreuger, an aggressive dealmaker who later died in an apparent suicide after his business empire crumbled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Jaissle's side crumbled and conceded three goals in a chastening 14-minute period in the first half.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Top each generously with chèvre — crumbled if firm, dolloped if soft and spreadable — and about ¼ cup of the crisp cornbread crumbs.
From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026
There were scenes of destruction in several cities, including Manizales, where the tower of a beloved neo-Gothic cathedral crumbled.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
His eyes had seen treasures he did not yet possess, and now they crumbled away.
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
The steady decrease in quality is unmistakable, and it’s perfectly conceivable that even a day-one Marvel enthusiast would feel the facade crumbling at some point.
From Salon ● Sep. 11, 2026
The retirement myth of endless golf games or fishing trips melting into decades of elder bliss has been crumbling for decades.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 10, 2026
Though Sharpeville may be a place name rich in historical resonance, it scarcely looks like a site that symbolises the struggle: the township is slowly crumbling.
From BBC ● Sep. 3, 2026
The dancers pile atop one another and let the sand in their hands fall as if they are crumbling sculptures.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026
The Aristotelian wall was crumbling, thanks to the influence of the Muslims and the Hindus, and by the 1400s even the staunchest European supporters of Aristotelianism had their doubts.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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.
