crumble

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To break or fall apart into small pieces.

   The old stone wall had begun to crumble with age.

2. 2
   verb

   To gradually fall into ruin, decay, or collapse.

   Their hopes of victory crumbled after the final goal.

3. 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.

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.

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