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crumble

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crumble¹

  • /ˈkɹʌmbəl/ UK
  • /ˈkɹʌmbəl/ US
  • [ˈkɹʌmbɪ̈l] US
  • [ˈkɹʌmbl̩] US
  • /ˈkɹʊmbəl/ Northern England
  • /ˈkɾʌmbəl/ Scotland, Wales

Rhymes with -ʌmbəl

Where it comes from

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.

verb crumbles · crumbling · crumbled · crimble

  1. figuratively, intransitive, often To fall apart; to disintegrate. The bread roll crumbled when I tried to slice it; it was too stale.
  2. transitive To break into crumbs. We crumbled some bread into the water.
  3. transitive 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.

noun crumbles · crimble

  1. countable, uncountable A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar. blackberry and apple crumble

    Similar: crisp, crunch

Crumble²

proper noun Crumbles

  1. A surname.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: collapse, fall apart, tumble, break down, decay, crumple, delapidate, flop, fall, disintegrate, diminish, unravel, erode, plummet, bacon, tofu

Translations

Every language

verb to mix forming crumbs

Italianosabbiare

verb to fall apart

Españoldesmigajarse, desmoronarse, desmenuzarse
日本語崩れる kuzureru
中文崩溃 bēngkuì
Portuguêsdesmoronar
Françaiss'effondrer
Deutschbröckeln, zerbröckeln, zerkrümeln
Italianosgretolarsi, crollare, ridursi in polvere
Русскийкроши́ться krošítʹsja, раскроши́ться raskrošítʹsja, рассыпа́ться rassypátʹsja, рассы́паться rassýpatʹsja
עבריתהתפרק hitparék, התפורר hitporér

verb to render into crumbs

Españoldesmigajar, desmenuzar
日本語崩す kuzusu
中文碎裂 suìliè
Portuguêsdespedaçar, esfarelar
Françaiseffriter, émietter
Deutschkrümeln, zerkrümeln
Italianosbriciolare, sbriciolarsi
Românădumica
Русскийкроши́ть krošítʹ, раскроши́ть raskrošítʹ
עבריתפורר porér

noun dessert

Españolcrumble
Françaiscrumble, croustade
DeutschCrumble

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

"crumble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/crumble. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

crumble. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/crumble

Chicago

"crumble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/crumble.

BibTeX
@misc{crumble_2026,
  title = {crumble},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crumble},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}