crumble

C1 Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈkɹʌmbəl/ See IPA manual

Freq #13850

Meanings

1

verb
To break or fall apart into small pieces.

The old stone wall had begun to crumble with age.
2

verb
To gradually fall into ruin, decay, or collapse.

Their hopes of victory crumbled after the final goal.
3

noun
A British dessert of stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, and sugar.

We had warm apple crumble with custard for pudding.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to break or fall apart into... fall apart disintegrate

2 verb · to gradually fall into... decay

3 noun · a british dessert of stewed... crisp crunch

Word family

Forms crumbledcrumblescrumblingcrumbly

Derived forms crumblablecrumblementcrumblercrumblesomecrumblinglycrumblingness

Appears in

Idioms (1)

See all

that's the way the cookie crumbles
used to accept an unfortunate result as something that happens in life

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.

*crymblen Middle English *crymlan Old English cruma Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# crumble

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb, noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈkɹʌmbəl/
**Frequency rank:** 13850

## Meanings
1. To break or fall apart into small pieces.
2. To gradually fall into ruin, decay, or collapse.
3. A British dessert of stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of flour, butter, and sugar.

## Examples
- The old stone wall had begun to crumble with age.
- Their hopes of victory crumbled after the final goal.
- We had warm apple crumble with custard for pudding.

## Derived Forms
- crumblable
- crumblement
- crumbler
- crumblesome
- crumblingly
- crumblingness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *crymblen
- Root: *crymlan
- Root: cruma

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Crumble is 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. In present-day use, it can mean to break or fall apart into small pieces, or to gradually fall into ruin, decay, or collapse. Derived formations include crumblable, crumblement, crumbler, crumblesome, crumblingly.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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