crumble
/ˈkɹʌmbəl/ verb, noun, proper noun
Forms crumbles crumbling crumbled crimble
- verb (intransitive, often figurative) To fall apart; to disintegrate. “The bread roll crumbled when I tried to slice it; it was too stale.”
- verb (transitive) To break into crumbs. “We crumbled some bread into the water.”
- verb (transitive) To mix (ingredients such as flour and butter) in such a way as to form crumbs. “Using your fingers, crumble the ingredients with the fingertips, lifting in an upward motion, until the mixture is sandy and resembles large breadcrumbs.”
- noun A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar. “blackberry and apple crumble”
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
crisp crunch crumple tumble break down collapse fall apart decay dilapidate
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.
Webster’s 1913
- verb To break into small pieces; to cause to fall in pieces.
- verb To fall into small pieces; to break or part into small fragments; hence, to fall to decay or ruin; to become disintegrated; to perish.
Etymology [Dim. of crumb, v. t., akin to D. krimelen G. kr.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “crumble”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details