crumple

American  

[kruhm-puhl] / ˈkrʌm pəl /

verb (used with object)

• crumples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crumpled,
  past participle,  past
• crumpling
  present participle

1. to press or crush into irregular folds or into a compact mass; bend out of shape; rumple; wrinkle.

2. to cause to collapse or give way suddenly.

   That right hook to the midsection crumpled him.

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verb (used without object)

• crumples,
  present (3rd person singular)
• crumpled,
  past participle,  past
• crumpling
  present participle

1. to contract into wrinkles; shrink; shrivel.

2. to give way suddenly; collapse.

   The bridge crumpled under the weight of the heavy trucks.

noun

1. an irregular fold or wrinkle produced by crumpling.

crumple British  

/ ˈkrʌmpəl /

verb

1. to collapse or cause to collapse

   his courage crumpled

2. to crush or cause to be crushed so as to form wrinkles or creases

3. (intr) to shrink; shrivel

---

noun

1. a loose crease or wrinkle

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• crumply
  adjective
• uncrumpling
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• crumpling
  present
• crumpled
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• crumple
  simple
• crumples
  simple
• have crumpled
  perfect
• has crumpled
  perfect
• am crumpling
  progressive
• are crumpling
  progressive
• is crumpling
  progressive
• have been crumpling
  perfect progressive
• has been crumpling
  perfect progressive

Past

• crumpled
  simple
• had crumpled
  perfect
• was crumpling
  progressive
• were crumpling
  progressive
• had been crumpling
  perfect progressive

Future

• will crumple
  simple
• will have crumpled
  perfect
• will be crumpling
  progressive
• will have been crumpling
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

crumple crumples crumpled crumpling

They were at work when the quakes struck, causing high-rise apartment buildings, shopping centers and schools to crumple.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

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

Rot and death would spread through their venerable trunks and crumple their limbs — but their roots and stumps, cradled by the continent’s most ancient mountains, lived on in the sandy, acidic Appalachian soil.

From Salon ● Dec. 18, 2023

The league is about to crumple it up and throw it out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2023

I crumple the picture and toss it into the recycling.

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins

If people and institutions and businesses and government stand up to him, he crumples.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

A piercing scream erupts in the crowd; a woman’s face crumples and flutters, like a paper mask about to disintegrate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023

Mesut's face crumples into tears and he turns away to compose himself.

From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2023

The situation is akin to a car that crumples in a crash: the vehicle absorbs the impact to protect passengers, but it is totaled.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2023

Leading South America’s slow, grinding march toward Australia, its coastline hits the ocean floor and crumples up like a carpet shoved into a chair- leg.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Large, irregular, corpuscular clouds made of crumpled paper hung over the stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

The affected dormitory had shattered windows, blackened walls and a crumpled corrugated iron roof, an AFP journalist saw.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

As the lava cooled and contracted, it folded and crumpled, producing uneven features known as 'wrinkle ridges'.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026

All they found was a crumpled bag of chips.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

“Thanks,” I say as Emma hands over a wad of crumpled bills.

From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller

Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP on Monday showed the catastrophic collapse of a shopping centre in General Santos, and an unoccupied school building crumpling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

After crumpling to the ice, McNabb immediately climbed to his feet, skated off the playing area and headed down the tunnel while holding a hand over his nose and mouth.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 5, 2026

Whether he was laughing, brooding or crumpling into sobs to create one of the most well-known and widely circulated meme GIFs of all time, Van Der Beek’s expressive appeal propelled him to virtually overnight superstardom.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026

"Knowing my son ended up like this, I'm inconsolable, I'm filled with grief," U Hla Aung said, his face crumpling into a sob.

From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2025

He wrote and wrote without stopping, filling sheet after sheet of paper, tearing up what he'd written, beginning again, putting one sheet aside and starting another, frowning, crumpling up the paper—and starting once more.

From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke

Related Words

• break down
• buckle
• crush
• scrunch