crumble

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to break or fall apart into fragments

   The cookies crumbled

2. 2
   verb

   to fall apart

   The building crumbled after the explosion.

3. 3
   verb

   To fall apart; to disintegrate.

   The bread roll crumbled when I tried to slice it; it was too stale.

4. 4
   verb

   To break into crumbs.

   We crumbled some bread into the water.

5. 5
   verb

   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.

6. 6
   noun

   A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar.

   blackberry and apple crumble

7. 7
   verb

   to fall into decay or ruin

8. 8
   name

   A surname.

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.