Link Centre Dictionary

crumple

UK/ˈkɹʌmpəl/ US/ˈkrʌmpʌl/ rare

verb

1.

fall apart

  • “the building crimbled after the explosion”
  • “Negociations broke down”
Synonyms
2.

fold or collapse

  • “His knees buckled”
Synonyms
3.

to gather something into small wrinkles or folds

  • “She puckered her lips”
Synonyms
4.

become wrinkled or crumpled or creased

  • “This fabric won”
Synonyms

Origin

From Middle English crumplen, cromplen, frequentative of Middle English crumpen (“to curl up, crump”), from Old English crump (“bent, crooked”). Equivalent to crump + -le.

Phrases

  • crumple up
  • crumple zone

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

Related verbs

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.