crumpet

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crumpet

/ˈkɹʌmpɪt/

Rhymes with -ʌmpɪt

Where it comes from

First appears c. the 17th century, either from crompid cake (“wafer, literally, curled-up cake”), from crompid, form of crumpen (“to curl up”); cognate to crumpled. An alternate etymology is from Celtic; compare Breton krampouezh (“crepe, pancake”) and Welsh crempog (“pancake”).

The sense of a “desirable woman” is attested since 1936, possibly as Cockney rhyming slang for strumpet; alternatively, compare tart (“a loose woman, a prostitute”) (itself possibly Cockney rhyming slang for heart or sweetheart). Note that muffin has a similar sense, and that, in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Muffins and crumpets was a familiar street-cry in the UK.

noun crumpets

countable, uncountable A type of savoury cake, typically flat and round, made from batter and yeast, containing many small holes and served toasted, usually with butter. T-Saint: I say we kill 'em! Donner: I say we hump 'em. Booga: I say we eat crumpets and tea. Deetee: Tasty! Crumpets and tea. All in favor of crumpets and tea, say "I." All: I! T-Saint: Shut up! Ain't gonna be no crumpets and tea.
UK, countable, dated, slang, uncountable A sexually attractive person or, collectively, people; usually referring to women. Joan Bakewell was famously described as "the thinking man's crumpet".
Similar: beautiful person
Australia, UK, countable, slang, uncountable The head. He bad been worried off his crumpet all day, making arrangements on her behalf.

Translations

Every language

noun savoury cake

中文	小圓烤餅 /小圆烤饼 xiǎoyuánkǎobǐng, 烤麵餅 /烤面饼 kǎomiànbǐng
Français	crumpet
Русский	кра́мпет krámpet

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MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX

@misc{crumpet_2026,
  title = {crumpet},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/crumpet},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}