crumble
To fall apart; to disintegrateTo fall apart; to disintegrate.
Recorded US: Sylvanmoon, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons
» That's just the way the cookie crumbles.
CK · Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FRTranslations
8 languagesBy meaning 2
By meaning 2
By meaning 2
Examples
73 sentencesThat's just the way the cookie crumbles.
Why are you crumbling this bread?
ruЗачем ты крошишь этот хлеб? — Selena777
Sami was crumbling under the pressure.
Meaning
3 senses(figuratively, intransitive, often)To fall apart; to disintegrate.
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.
bröckeln, zerbröckeln, zerkrümeln
кроши́тьсяkrošítʹsja, раскроши́тьсяraskrošítʹsja, рассыпа́тьсяrassypátʹsja
розсипа́тисяrozsypátysja, розси́патисяrozsýpatysja, криши́тисяkryšýtysja
fall apart
(transitive)To break into crumbs.
We crumbled some bread into the water.
krümeln, zerkrümeln
кроши́тьkrošítʹ, раскроши́тьraskrošítʹ
криши́тиkryšýty, розкри́шуватиrozkrýšuvaty, розкриши́тиrozkryšýty
break or fall apart into fragments
(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.
Origin
From earlier crymble, crimble, from Middle English *crymblen, kremelen, from Old English *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.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
crumbles, crumbling, crumbled, crumbledTenses
crumble · crumbled · will crumble · have crumbledSynonyms
7 synonyms- fall apart:crumpletumblebreak downcollapse
- break or fall apart into fragments:fall apart
- fall into decay or ruin:decaydilapidate
Word family
6 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.