crumble

See also: Crumble

English

Alternative forms
  • crimble (dialectal)

Etymology

From earlier crymble, crimble, from Middle English *crymblen, kremelen, from Old English *crymlan (“to crumble”), from *crymel (“a small crumb; crumble”), diminutive of Old English cruma (“crumb”), equivalent to crumb +‎ -le (diminutive suffix). Compare Dutch kruimelen (“to crumble”), German Low German krömmeln (“to crumble”), German Krümel, diminutive of German Krume, German krümeln, krümmeln (“to crumble”). Alteration of vowel due to analogy with crumb.

Pronunciation
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɹʌmbəl/, [ˈkɹʌmbɪ̈l], [ˈkɹʌmbl̩]
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌmbəl
  • Hyphenation: crum‧ble

Verb

crumble (third-person singular simple present crumbles, present participle crumbling, simple past and past participle crumbled)

  1. (intransitive, often figurative) To fall apart; to disintegrate.
    Coordinate term: crumple
    The bread roll crumbled when I tried to slice it; it was too stale.
    The empire crumbled when the ruler's indiscretions came to light.
    • 1978, Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren (lyrics and music), “I Will Survive”, in Love Tracks, performed by Gloria Gaynor:
      Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? / Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?
    • 2012 April 4, Sam Anderson, “Just One More Game ...”, in The New York Times Magazine‎:
      In 1989, as communism was beginning to crumble across Eastern Europe, just a few months before protesters started pecking away at the Berlin Wall, the Japanese game-making giant Nintendo reached across the world to unleash upon America its own version of freedom.
  2. (transitive) To break into crumbs.
    We crumbled some bread into the water.
  3. (transitive) To mix (ingredients such as flour and butter) in such a way as to form crumbs.
    Coordinate term: fold
    Using your fingers, crumble the ingredients with the fingertips, lifting in an upward motion, until the mixture is sandy and resembles large breadcrumbs.

Derived terms

Translations
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

crumble (countable and uncountable, plural crumbles)

  1. A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar.
    Synonyms: crisp, crunch
    blackberry and apple crumble

Translations

Further reading

Anagrams

French

Etymology

Borrowed from English crumble.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /kʁœm.bœl/, /kʁœ̃bl/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

crumble m (plural crumbles)

  1. (France) crumble (dessert)
    Synonym: croustade

Spanish

Noun

crumble m (plural crumbles)

  1. crumble
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