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crumble

verb · noun

Simple meaning

A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

kruhmbuhl

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ˈkɹʌmbəl

This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.

IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. Break or fall apart into fragments

    “The building crumbled after the explosion.”

  2. transitive

    To break into crumbs.

  3. Fall into decay or ruin

  4. intransitiveoften figurative

    To fall apart; to disintegrate.

  5. transitive

    To mix (ingredients such as flour and butter) in such a way as to form crumbs.

noun

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

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C2 · Proficient (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: Break or fall apart into fragments

Used this way, crumble is a common word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.

Heard in a sentence
“The building crumbled after the explosion.”
Emotional tone
Neutral
Formality
Neutral
Intensity
Not strongly marked
How common
Common
Connotation
No strong connotation
Usage feel
Neutral and straightforward

Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.

More ways to use crumble

  • “The building crumbled after the explosion.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

crumble awaycrumble beforesoon crumble

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Similar Words, What’s the Difference?

Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.

  • collapse

    To break apart and fall down suddenly.

  • tumble

    Fall down, as if collapsing.

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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.