Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To break into small fragments or pieces.
  • intransitive verb To fall into small fragments or pieces; disintegrate.
  • intransitive verb To give way; collapse.
  • noun A baked dessert of fruit topped with a crumbly pastry mixture.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A small crumb; a fragment; a particle; a morsel.
  • To break into small fragments; divide into minute parts or morsels.
  • To fall into small pieces; break or part into small fragments; become disintegrated.
  • To fall into desuetude; decay; become frittered away; disappear piecemeal.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To break into small pieces; to cause to fall in pieces.
  • intransitive verb To fall into small pieces; to break or part into small fragments; hence, to fall to decay or ruin; to become disintegrated; to perish.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To fall apart; to disintegrate.
  • verb To render into crumbs.
  • noun A dessert of British origin containing stewed fruit topped with a crumbly mixture of fat, flour, and sugar.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb fall apart
  • verb fall into decay or ruin
  • verb break or fall apart into fragments

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration (influenced by crumb) of Middle English cremelen, from Old English *crymelen, frequentative of gecrymmian, to break into crumbs, from cruma, crumb.]

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Examples

  • The crumble is my favourite part of the whole bar.

    Blueberry Crumble Bars 2008

  • The crumble is my favourite part of the whole bar.

    Archive 2008-07-01 2008

  • Watching Pakistan crumble from a pseudo-democracy into a despotic dictatorship rife with Islamic fundamentalist extremists who threaten the security of the Middle East and victory in Afghanistan is a huge issue.

    Iraq War Not Top 10 News Story In 2007? « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2007

  • Watching Pakistan crumble from a pseudo-democracy into a despotic dictatorship rife with Islamic fundamentalist extremists who threaten the security of the Middle East and victory in Afghanistan is a huge issue.

    2007 December 26 « Unambiguously Ambidextrous 2007

  • The butter in the crumble is cut in, not melted, making it very crumbly but surprisingly not dry.

    Crumbly Apple Squares 2006

  • Where the library brand begins to crumble is when people say that they use the library less [because] they like to locate information for themselves.

    MORE ABOUT THE LIBRARY BRAND Ms. OPL 2006

  • The butter in the crumble is cut in, not melted, making it very crumbly but surprisingly not dry.

    Archive 2006-02-01 2006

  • Bake in 350 F oven until crumble is golden, about 40 minutes.

    Chocolate Raspberry Crumble Bars 2006

  • Bake in 350 F oven until crumble is golden, about 40 minutes.

    Archive 2006-03-01 2006

  • I repeat that I do not think that Hitler, when he gets the oil, will be victorious, because Germany will crumble from the inside, but I think they will try everything before they absolutely crash.

    The Present Situation in the Balkans 1940

Comments

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  • Crisps and Crumbles - Crisps are baked with the fruit mixture on the bottom with a crumb topping. The crumb topping can be made with flour, nuts, bread crumbs, cookie or graham cracker crumbs, or even breakfast cereal. Crumbles are the British version of the American Crisp.

    _whatscookingamerican.net/History

    February 6, 2008

  • “A British dessert in which raw fruit is topped with a crumbly pastry mixture and baked. One reference says a crumble is like a crisp, but not as rich.”

    Ochef.com, Cobbler, Crisp, Crumble, Grunt, Slump—You Get the Picture

    April 6, 2010