Wiktionary

crumble

See also: Crumble

English

edit

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit

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.

Pronunciation

edit
  • (US) IPA(key): /ˈkɹʌmbəl/, [ˈkɹʌmbɪ̈l], [ˈkɹʌmbl̩]
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌmbəl
  • Hyphenation: crum‧ble

Verb

edit

crumble (third-person singular simple present crumbles, present participle crumbling, simple past and past participle crumbled)

  2. (intransitive, often figurative) To fall apart; to disintegrate.
    Coordinate term: crumple
    The bread roll crumbled when I tried to slice it; it was too stale.
    The empire crumbled when the ruler's indiscretions came to light.
    • 1978, Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren (lyrics and music), “I Will Survive”, in Love Tracks, performed by Gloria Gaynor:
      Weren't you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye? / Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?
    • 2012 April 4, Sam Anderson, “Just One More Game ...”, in The New York Times Magazine‎[1]:
      In 1989, as communism was beginning to crumble across Eastern Europe, just a few months before protesters started pecking away at the Berlin Wall, the Japanese game-making giant Nintendo reached across the world to unleash upon America its own version of freedom.
  4. (transitive) To break into crumbs.
    We crumbled some bread into the water.
  6. (transitive) To mix (ingredients such as flour and butter) in such a way as to form crumbs.
    Coordinate term: fold
    Using your fingers, crumble the ingredients with the fingertips, lifting in an upward motion, until the mixture is sandy and resembles large breadcrumbs.

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked

Noun

edit

crumble (countable and uncountable, plural crumbles)

 
  2. A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar.
    Synonyms: crisp, crunch
    blackberry and apple crumble

Derived terms

edit
edit

Translations

edit

Further reading

edit

Anagrams

edit

French

edit
 
French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

edit

Borrowed from English crumble.

Pronunciation

edit

Noun

edit

crumble m (plural crumbles)

  1. (France) crumble (dessert)
    Synonym: croustade

Spanish

edit

Noun

edit

crumble m (plural crumbles)

  1. crumble
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=crumble&oldid=82122698"
  NODES
Note 1
Verify 1