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

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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

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Etymology

Origin of crumple

1400–50; late Middle English; variant of crimple

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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

Here, without the support of those yellow bars, the doors could warp or crumple.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

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

Joseph executed her role to perfection as she took all the pressure off 33-year-old Dottin, but when she departed with 41 runs still needed, there was some concern that West Indies could crumple.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024

There was the pain and shame of seeing his father crumple before any man—even himself.

From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison

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

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

As he talks, his face crumples into a sob.

From BBC ● May 8, 2025

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

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

Her face crumples like she's about to cry even harder, but the sob never comes.

From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman

But it also helps us understand why a crumpled sock in the middle of the living room or dirty dishes on the kitchen counter makes the exhausted woman in your life crash out.

From Salon ● Oct. 18, 2026

I didn’t feel any affinity with the humanoid that smashed Bolt’s 100-meter record, but found the robot weightlifter that crumpled under a 15kg barbell and staggered into a table very relatable.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

But there is still so much darkness in “The Grapes of Wrath,” especially in its scenes of John Qualen’s Muley Graves, crumpled on the ground, suddenly a squatter on his own piece of land.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026

The look on Joe’s face when we first meet him says a lot about his crumpled ambitions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026

When Paige came back, she handed Michael the crumpled paper with her name and phone number written on it.

From "The First State of Being" by Erin Entrada Kelly

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

"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

But first, she sobs, crumpling into Samuel’s arms while he holds her close.

From Salon ● Dec. 30, 2024

“I want people to know that we’re just normal people,” Ms. Broadbent, her face crumpling as she fought through tears, told Mr. Johnson.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

She slumped down on the bed she shared with Layla, crumpling something underneath her.

From "Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World" by Ashley Herring Blake

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Related Words

• break down
• buckle
• crush
• scrunch

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