Crumble Meaning
/ˈkɹʌmbəl/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo fall apart; to disintegrate.
verbTo break into crumbs.
Sentence Examples
The church's steeple is beginning to crumble with age.
Where did you crumble them?
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cookies will ____ if you handle them too roughly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The church's steeple is beginning to ____ with age.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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?"
— 1978, Dino Fekaris, Freddie Perren, “I Will Survive”, in Love Tracks, performed by Gloria Gaynor:
"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."
— 2012 April 4, Sam Anderson, “Just One More Game ...”, in The New York Times Magazine:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The old cookies will ____ if you handle them too roughly.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The church's steeple is beginning to ____ with age.