CRUMBLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crumble mean? 

• CRUMBLE (verb)
  The verb CRUMBLE has 3 senses:

1. fall apart

2. break or fall apart into fragments

3. fall into decay or ruin

  Familiarity information: CRUMBLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRUMBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crumble    ... he / she / it crumbles   
Past simple: crumbled   
Past participle: crumbled   
-ing form: crumbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fall apart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break down; collapse; crumble; crumple; tumble

Context example:

Negotiations broke down

Hypernyms (to "crumble" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The business is going to crumble

Sense 2

Meaning:

Break or fall apart into fragments

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crumble; fall apart

Context example:

The Sphinx is crumbling

Hypernyms (to "crumble" is one way to...):

disintegrate (break into parts or components or lose cohesion or unity)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Fall into decay or ruin

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crumble; decay; dilapidate

Context example:

The unoccupied house started to decay

Hypernyms (to "crumble" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "crumble"):

deteriorate (become worse or disintegrate)

corrode; rust (become destroyed by water, air, or a corrosive such as an acid)

weather (change under the action or influence of the weather)

eat at; erode; gnaw; gnaw at; wear away (become ground down or deteriorate)

droop; wilt (become limp)

ruin (fall into ruin)

break; bust; fall apart; wear; wear out (go to pieces)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

 Context examples 

Marijuana is a green, brown, or gray mix of dried, crumbled leaves from the marijuana plant.

(Marijuana, NIH: National Institute on Drug Abuse)

He crumbled the wafer up fine and worked it into the mass between his hands.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

As at the time I caught her arm when helping her below, so at any time I was quite prepared, should stress or rough handling befall her, to see her crumble away.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

His hopes and his ambitions were all crumbling about him.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

On the way into the forest Hansel crumbled his in his pocket, and often stood still and threw a morsel on the ground.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Had the edge of the platform crumbled and let it through?

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Broken fences, crumbling walls, vineyards littered with stones, the shattered arches of bridges—look where you might, the signs of ruin and rapine met the eye.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The wife minced a bit of meat, then crumbled some bread on a trencher, and placed it before me.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Morlighem's new topography shows southern Greenland's ragged, crumbling coastline is scored by more than 100 canyons beneath glaciers that empty into the ocean.

(Hidden Greenland canyons mean more sea level rise, NASA)

All this life through which the electric car whirred seemed remote and unreal, and he would have experienced little interest and less shock if the great stone steeple of the church he passed had suddenly crumbled to mortar-dust upon his head.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)