Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Crumble |
CrumbleVerb1. Fall apart; also used metaphorically: "Negociations broke down". 2. Break or fall apart into fragments; "The cookies crumbled"; "The Sphinx is crumbling". 3. Fall into decay or ruin; "The unoccupied house started to decay". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "crumble" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
A crumble is a dish of stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour and sugar. The crumble is baked in an oven until the topping is crisp. Popular fruits used in crumbles include apple, rhubarb and plum. A similar dish, without sugar, can be made with a filling of minced beef or lamb.Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Crumble."
Synonyms: CrumbleSynonyms: break down (v), collapse (v), crumple (v), decay (v), delapidate (v), fall apart (v), tumble (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Brittleness | Break, crack, snap, split, shiver, splinter, crumble, break short, burst, fly, give way; fall to pieces; crumble to, crumble into dust. |
Decomposition | Verb: decompose, decompound; analyze, disembody, dissolve; resolve into its elements, separate into its elements; electrolyze; dissect, decentralize, break up; disperse; unravel; (unroll); crumble into dust. |
Destruction | Verb: be destroyed; perish; fall to the ground; tumble, topple; go to pieces, fall to pieces; break up; crumble to dust; go to the dogs, go to the wall, go to smash, go to shivers, go to wreck, go to pot, go to wrack and ruin; go by the board, go all to smash; be all over, be all up, be all with; totter to its fall. |
Deterioration | Run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal; lapse, be the worse for; sphacelate: break, break down; spring a leak, crack, start; shrivel; (contract); fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad; go to decay, fall into decay; " fall into the sear and yellow leaf", rust, crumble, shake; totter, totter to its fall; perish; die. |
Nonincrease, Decrease | Verb: decrease, diminish, lessen; abridge; (shorten); shrink; (contract); drop off, fall off, tail off; fall away, waste, wear; wane, ebb, decline; descend; subside; melt away, die away; retire into the shade, hide its diminished head, fall to a low ebb, run low, languish, decay, crumble. |
Pulverulence | Reduce to powder, grind to powder; pulverize, comminute, granulate, triturate, levigate; scrape, file, abrade, rub down, grind, grate, rasp, pound, bray, bruise; contuse, contund; beat, crush, cranch, craunch, crunch, scranch, crumble, disintegrate; attenuate . |
Weakness | Verb: be weak; Adjective: drop, crumble, give way, totter, tremble, shake, halt, limp, fade, languish, decline, flag, fail, have one leg in the grave. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Crumble |
| English words defined with "crumble": Crumbling ♦ Relais ♦ short, slack, slake. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "crumble": clay loam ♦ goldamalgam ♦ INSTANTIZER OPERATOR ♦ open timbering ♦ Widow. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "crumble": frivolous. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Yeah, well, sometimes I like to crumble up the Wheat-a-Bix in the blood (Buffy the Vampire Slayer; writing credit: Doreen Spicer) | |
Lyrics | Feel the Sterling crumble (Wall Street Shuffle; performing artist: 10CC) And the mountains should crumble to the sea ("Stand By Me"; performing artist: Ben E. King) When I'm on the mic, it's like a cookie, they all crumble (Nuthin But A "G" Thang; performing artist: Dr. Dre) Did I crumble ("I Will Survive"; performing artist: Gloria Gayner) When the mountains crumble into the sea (Forever Your Girl; performing artist: Paula Abdul) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | The stars began to crumble and a cloud of fine stardust fell through space |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Rosemary Clooney | In time the Rockies may crumble, Gibraltar may tumble, they are only made of clay/ but our love is here to stay/ our love is here to stay. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
Herbert C. Hoover | 1929-1933 | Our whole system of self-government will crumble either if officials elect what laws they will enforce or citizens elect what laws they will support. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Crumble" is generally used as a lexical verb (infinitive) -- approximately 69.48% of the time. "Crumble" is used about 213 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Lexical Verb (infinitive) | 69.48% | 148 | 25,903 |
| Noun (singular) | 13.62% | 29 | 64,444 |
| Lexical Verb (base form) | 10.8% | 23 | 72,767 |
| Noun (proper) | 5.63% | 12 | 101,599 |
| Noun (common) | 0.47% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 213 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "crumble" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Crumble | Last name | 1,000 | 18,274 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expressions using "crumble": crumble away ♦ crumble into ♦ crumble into dust ♦ crumble mixture ♦ crumble to ♦ crumble up. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day | Expression | Frequency per Day |
apple crumble | 40 | crumble rubarb | 3 |
crumble | 32 | aux crumble pommes | 3 |
apple crumble recipe | 25 | crumble recette | 3 |
crumble rhubarb | 24 | berry blue crumble recipe | 3 |
violet crumble | 12 | crumble gooseberry | 2 |
crumble recipe rhubarb | 7 | cake crumble | 2 |
crumble rhubarb strawberry | 7 | around crumble statue world | 2 |
berry blue crumble | 5 | berry crumble | 2 |
crumble recipe | 5 | crumble peach recipe | 2 |
crumble peach | 4 | apple crumble pie | 2 |
crumble strawberry | 3 | crumble fruit | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Language | Translations for "crumble"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | thërrmoj (comminute, crumb, crush, fritter, mince, pestle), thërrmohet (molder, moulder), shkatërrohem (be scattered, decay, deteriorate, dilapidate, totter), shkërmoqet, shkërmoq (break up), bëhem pluhur e hi. (various references) | |
Arabic | فتت (break up, crumb, flake, fragment, fragmentize, fritter), تفتت (crumbling, decay, detritus, disintegrate), تقوض, تدهور (break down, breakdown, decadence, decay, deteriorate, deterioration, drop, go to pot, go to the bad, impairment, retrogradation, run to seed, sour, suffer, tumble), شىء مفتت. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | рухвам (collapse, fall, go to pieces, go to ruin, topple, tumble down, wreck), роня (drop, shell), разпадам се (disintegrate, dissociate, molder away, moulder away, resolve), раздробявам (breaking up into smaller units, fritter, shatter), троша (crumb, knap). (various references) | |
Chinese | 碎屑, 弄碎 , 崩潰 (collapse, fall apart), 崩塌 (collapse). (various references) | |
Czech | rozpadat se (decay, run to seed), rozdrobit (dismember, shiver), drolit se (be crumbly), drobit. (various references) | |
Dutch | gruizelen (crumble away, crumble off), afbrokkelen (crumble away, crumble off). (various references) | |
Esperanto | pecetiĝi (crumble away, crumble off), ĉifi (crease). (various references) | |
Faeroese | rukka (crease, furrow, wrinkle). (various references) | |
Farsi | فروریختن (Breakdown, Cave, Collapse, Disintegrate, Fall), خردشدن (Crackup, Crunch, Crush). (various references) | |
Finnish | murentua (disintegrate), murentaa (crush), hienontaa (crush, grind fine, powder, pulverize). (various references) | |
French | froisser (crease, crumple, crush). (various references) | |
Frisian | ôfbroazelje (crumble away, crumble off). (various references) | |
German | zerbröckeln (disintegrate, to crumble), krümeln (make crumbs, to crumble), bröckeln (crumble away, crumble off). (various references) | |
Greek | θρυμματίζω (break into pieces, fritter, shatter, smash). (various references) | |
Hebrew | לקזז (compensate, offset, write off), לפורר (flake, granulate, rice, shatter, undermine), ל"תפורר (come apart, disintegrate, molder, moulder). (various references) | |
Hungarian | elmorzsol (to crumb, wipe away). (various references) | |
Indonesian | meremukkan (crunch), gembur. (various references) | |
Italian | sgretolarsi (crumble away, crumble off, molder). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 崩れる (to collapse, to crumble). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | くずれおちる (to crumble down, to to fall in, to tumble down), くずれさる (to collapse, to crumble away), くずれる (to collapse, to crumble). (various references) | |
Korean | 잘게 부순 것. (various references) | |
Manx | tuittym ass y cheilley (crack up), mholmaghey (crumbling), kinneigey (crumbling), brooillaghey (break up). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | umblecray.(various references) | |
Portuguese | fracionar (fractionate), esmigalhar (shatter), desfazer-se (discard), desagregar-se, amassar (crease, form, knead, mold, mould, screw up, tousle), amarrotar (cockle, crease, crumple, ruffle, rumple, tousle), amarfanhar (crease, rumple). (various references) | |
Romanian | se spulbera, se prãbuşi (come down with a run, crash, curl up, fall, fall drop through, fall in, fall to the ground, founder, go to pieces, ruin, subside, wreck), se nãrui (fall), se fãrâmiţa (chip), risipi (broadcast, cast away, chase, chuck away, clear, consume, disappear, dispel, disperse, dissipate, quiet, remove, repel, riot, scatter, settle, solve, spend, sprinkle, squander, strew, throw away, vanish, waste), nãrui (confound, dash, defeat, destroy, raze, ruin, slip, snuff), face fãrâme, fãrâmiţa (granulate, mince, pestle), fãrâma, dumica (chop up, crumb, cut into pieces, destroy, dismember), descompune (analyse, analyze, decompose, disintegrate, dissolve, resolve, rot), dãrâma (annihilate, batter, blight, break down, crack, crush, demolish, destroy, frustrate, pull down, raze, ruin, shatter, throw down, wreck). (various references) | |
Russian | раскрошить (crumble up), распадаться (come apart, disintegrate), разрушаться (break, decay, molder, moulder, wrack), крошиться, осыпаться, искрошить. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | raspasti se (crumble up, disintegrate, fall apart, fall to pieces, go to pieces), namrviti, mrviti se, izmrviti, drobiti (crush, fritter). (various references) | |
Spanish | desmoronarse (crumble away, crumble off, decay, fall apart, fall away, fall in, fall off, molder, moulder). (various references) | |
Swedish | falla sönder (fall to pieces). (various references) | |
Turkish | yıkılmak (break down, cave, cave in, collapse, come down, crack up, drop down, fall, fall down, fall over, fall to pieces, founder, go to pieces, go to ruin, shipwreck, tumble, tumble down, wither away), ufalamak (break up, chaff, chip off, comminute, crumb, pulverize, scrap), parçalanmak (break, break to pieces, break up, come apart, crash, crush, decay, digest, disintegrate, disrupt, fall to pieces, fly to pieces, go into splinters, go splinters, go to pieces, rend, rupture, shatter, shiver, shred, smash, Spall, splinter, split, split off), parçalamak (bash in, break into pieces, break up, calve, comminute, cut smth. asunder, cut up, dash, disintegrate, disjoint, dismantle, dismember, disrupt, lacerate, pull to pieces, rend, scrap, shatter, shiver, shred, smash, smash in, smash up, Spall, splinter, split, take to pieces, tear to pieces, total), düşmek (behoove, behove, collapse, come down, come down in the world, crash, crumple, crumple up, decline, decrease, deduct, degrade, dive, droop, drop, drop down, drop off, ebb, end up, fall, fall among, fall down, fall from, fall in a heap, fall off, fall on, fall on evil days, fall over, go down, land, lapse, pitch, plonk, plunge, plunk, recede, rest with, sag, scale down, sink, sink into, step down, subside into, take a toss, tumble, tumble down). (various references) | |
Turkmen | pytramak (disperse), owranmak, owmak. (various references) | |
Ukrainian | розвалюватися, розпадатися (decompose, disjoin, fall apart, shred), роздрібнюватися, роздрібнювати, кришитися, кришити (chop, mince, shred), обсипатися. (various references) | |
Welsh | malurio (bray, molder, pound), briwsioni. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "crumble": crumbled, crumbles. (additional references) | |
| |
"Crumble" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Brumble, Chrimble, crimble, crimle, Cromsley, crumbel, Cumble, Cumbley, scrumble. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "crumble" (pronounced kru"mbul) |
| 6 | -r u" m b u l | grumble, rumble. |
| 5 | -u" m b u l | Bumble, fumble, humble, stumble, jumble, mumble, tumble, umbel. |
| 4 | -m b u l | amble, assemble, bramble, cymbal, disassemble, dissemble, ensemble, gamble, symbol, nimble, preamble, ramble, reassemble, resemble, scramble, shamble, thimble, tremble, unscramble, wamble. |
| 3 | -b u l | incurable, indefatigable, indefensible, indefinable, indelible, indescribable, indestructible, indispensable, indisputable, indistinguishable, indivisible, indomitable, inedible, ineffable, ineligible, inequitable, inescapable, inevitable, inexcusable, inexhaustible, inexorable, inexplicable, infallible, infeasible, inflammable, inflatable, acceptable, accessible, able, abominable, accountable, achievable, actionable, adaptable, addressable, adjustable, admirable, admissible, adoptable, adorable, advisable, affable, affordable, agreeable, allowable, amenable, amendable, amiable, amicable, analyzable, answerable, appealable, applicable, appreciable, approachable, approvable, arable, arguable, attainable, attributable, audible, available, avoidable, babble, Babel, bankable, bauble, bearable, believable, bible, billable, biodegradable, breakable, bubble, buildable, burnable, cable, callable, cannibal, capable, changeable, chargeable, charitable, classifiable, cobble, coble, collapsible, collectible, Combinable, comfortable, commendable, communicable, comparable, compatible, compensable, comprehensible, conceivable, confirmable, considerable, constable, consumable, contemptible, contestable, controllable, convertible, copyrightable, corbel, countable, credible, creditable, crucible, culpable, curable, dabble, debatable, deductible, defensible, definable, degradable, delectable, deliverable, demonstrable, dependable, deplorable, deployable, depreciable, describable, desirable, despicable, detachable, detectable, determinable, developable, Dibble, digestible, disable, disagreeable, discernible, discountable, discoverable, dishonorable, dispensable, disposable, disreputable, distinguishable, divisible, doable, double, Drabble, dribble, drinkable, drivable, durable, eatable, edible, electable, eligible, Embraceable, employable, enable, enfeeble, enforceable, enjoyable, ennoble, enviable, equable, equitable, erasable, erodible, estimable, exchangeable, excitable, excludable, excusable, execrable, exercisable, expandable, expendable, explainable, exportable, extendable, extendible, fable, fallible, fashionable, fathomable, favorable, feasible, feeble, fissionable, fixable, flammable, flexible, foible, forcible, foreseeable, forfeitable, forgettable, forgivable, formidable, fungible, fusible, gable, Garble, global, gobble, Gribble, gullible, habitable, hardscrabble, harvestable, herbal, heritable, hobble, hon, honorable, horrible, hospitable, identifiable, ignoble, illegible, imaginable, imitable, immeasurable, immiscible, immobile, immovable, immutable, impassable, impeachable, impeccable, impenetrable, imperceptible, impermissible, implacable, implantable, implausible, imponderable, impossible, impracticable, impregnable, impressionable, improbable, inaccessible, inadmissible, inadvisable, inalienable, inapplicable, inaudible, incalculable, incapable, incomparable, incompatible, incomprehensible, incompressible, inconceivable, incontrovertible, incorrigible, incredible, soluble, solvable, spendable, squabble, Stabile, stable, stubble, submersible, suggestible, suitable, supportable, survivable, susceptible, sustainable, syllable, table, talkable, tangible, taxable, teachable, tenable, terrible, inflexible, inheritable, inhospitable, inimitable, injectable, innumerable, inoperable, insatiable, inscrutable, inseparable, insoluble, insufferable, insupportable, insurmountable, intangible, intelligible, interchangeable, interminable, interruptible, intertribal, intolerable, intractable, invaluable, investable, invincible, inviolable, invisible, invulnerable, irascible, irreconcilable, irrefutable, irremediable, irreparable, irreplaceable, irrepressible, irresistible, irresponsible, irreversible, irrevocable, irritable, issuable, justifiable, kibble, knowledgeable, label, lamentable, laudable, laughable, leasable, legible, liable, libel, likable, likeable, livable, lovable, malleable, manageable, mandible, maneuverable, marble, marketable, measurable, memorable, microwavable, miscible, miserable, mislabel, mobile, moldable, movable, navigable, negligible, negotiable, nibble, noble, noncallable, nonconvertible, nondeductible, nondurable, nonrefundable, nonrenewable, nontaxable, nontransferable, nonverbal, notable, noticeable, objectionable, observable, obtainable, operable, ostensible, palatable, palpable, parable, passable, patentable, payable, peaceable, pebble, perceptible, perishable, permeable, permissible, personable, persuadable, pitiable, plausible, pleasurable, pliable, portable, possible, potable, practicable, predictable, preferable, presentable, preventable, printable, probable, profitable, programmable, prosecutable, provable, psychobabble, punishable, questionable, quibble, quotable, rabble, reachable, readable, realizable, reasonable, rebel, receivable, rechargeable, recognizable, recordable, recoverable, recyclable, redeemable, redouble, redoubtable, reducible, refundable, regrettable, relabel, reliable, remarkable, removable, renewable, rentable, repairable, repayable, repeatable, replaceable, reportable, reprehensible, reputable, resealable, resettable, respectable, responsible, retractable, returnable, reusable, reversible, revocable, ridable, Roble, rouble, roundtable, rubble, Ruble, sable, salable, saleable, salvageable, Scrabble, scribble, seasonable, sensible, serviceable, Sibyl, sizable, sizeable, sociable, timetable, tolerable, traceable, tractable, tradable, tradeable, trainable, transferable, transferrable, transmittable, transportable, treatable, treble, tribal, trouble, tubal, tunable, turntable, typeable, unable, unacceptable, unaccountable, unaffordable, unalienable, unalterable, unanswerable, unassailable, unattainable, unavailable, unavoidable, unbearable, unbeatable, unbelievable, unbuildable, uncollectible, uncomfortable, unconscionable, uncontrollable, undeniable, understandable, undesirable, undetectable, unelectable, unemployable, unenforceable, unenviable, unexplainable, unfashionable, unfathomable, unfavorable, unfeasible, unflappable, unforeseeable, unforgettable, unforgivable, ungovernable, unimaginable, unimpeachable, uninhabitable, uninsurable, unintelligible, unjustifiable, unknowable, unlivable, unmanageable, unmentionable, unmistakable, unobtainable, unpalatable, unpredictable, unprintable, unprofitable, unquestionable, unreachable, unreadable, unreasonable, unrecognizable, unreliable, unremarkable, unsalable, unserviceable, unshakable, unsinkable, unsolvable, unspeakable, unstable, unstoppable, unsuitable, unsupportable, unsustainable, untenable, unthinkable, untouchable, untraceable, unusable, unverifiable, unwinnable, unworkable, usable, valuable, variable, vegetable, venerable, verbal, verifiable, veritable, viable, visible, voluble, vulnerable, washable, wearable, winnable, wobble, workable. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: clumber. | |
| Words within the letters "b-c-e-l-m-r-u" | |
-1 letter: cumber, lumber, rumble. | |
-2 letters: bluer, blume, brume, cruel, crumb, cuber, lemur, lucre, ruble, ulcer, umbel, umber. | |
-3 letters: berm, blue, blur, burl, club, clue, cube, culm, curb, cure, curl, ecru, lube, luce, lure, merl, mule, mure, rube, rule. | |
-4 letters: bel, bum, bur, cel, cub, cue, cum, cur, ecu, elm, emu, leu, lum, mel, reb, rec. | |
| Words containing the letters "b-c-e-l-m-r-u" | |
+1 letter: clumbers, crumbled, crumbles. | |
+2 letters: crumblier. | |
+3 letters: cerebellum, crumbliest, lumberjack, unscramble. | |
+4 letters: bimolecular, candelabrum, cerebellums, crumbliness, lumberjacks, microtubule, unscrambled, unscrambler, unscrambles. | |
+5 letters: biomolecular, candelabrums, cumbersomely, hibernaculum, microtubules, unscramblers. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Quotations: Fiction 8. Quotations: Spoken | 9. Quotations: Speeches 10. Usage Frequency 11. Names: Frequency 12. Expressions | 13. Expressions: Internet 14. Translations: Modern 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
