crumple

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈkrʌmpəl/ UK /ˈkrʌmpəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to crush into wrinkles or folds; to collapse

He began to crumple the rejection letter in his fist.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to crush into wrinkles or... crush crease wrinkle rumple scrunch collapse buckle

Opposites

smooth flatten straighten

Word family

Derived forms crumpledcrumply

Related forms crimpcrump

Simplified etymology

Crumple comes from the obsolete verb crump, “to make or become curved,” which in turn derives from Old English crump, “bent” or “crooked.”

Etymology

A frequentative of obsolete 'crump' ('to bend, curl up'), from Old English 'crump' ('bent, crooked'), with the diminutive '-le'.

crump Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes

External links

# crumple

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈkrʌmpəl/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈkrʌmpəl/

## Meanings
1. to crush into wrinkles or folds; to collapse

## Examples
- He began to crumple the rejection letter in his fist.

## Synonyms
- crush
- crease
- wrinkle
- rumple
- scrunch
- collapse
- buckle

## Antonyms
- smooth
- flatten
- straighten

## Derived Forms
- crumpled
- crumply

## Related Forms
- crimp
- crump

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: crump

## Etymology
A frequentative of obsolete 'crump' ('to bend, curl up'), from Old English 'crump' ('bent, crooked'), with the diminutive '-le'.

## AI Etymology
Crumple is a frequentative of obsolete 'crump' ('to bend, curl up'), from Old English 'crump' ('bent, crooked'), with the diminutive '-le'. The immediate etymological form is Old English crump. In present use as verb and noun, it means "to crush into wrinkles or folds; to collapse", keeping the historical formation close to the word's ordinary semantic work. Related words include crimp and crump; derived forms include crumpled and crumply. Its contrast set includes smooth, flatten, and straighten, which clarifies the semantic boundary of the modern word.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes

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