crumple

[ kruhm-puhl ]
See synonyms for crumple on Thesaurus.com
verb (used with object),crum·pled, crum·pling.
  1. to press or crush into irregular folds or into a compact mass; bend out of shape; rumple; wrinkle.

  2. to cause to collapse or give way suddenly: That right hook to the midsection crumpled him.

verb (used without object),crum·pled, crum·pling.
  1. to contract into wrinkles; shrink; shrivel.

  2. to give way suddenly; collapse: The bridge crumpled under the weight of the heavy trucks.

noun
  1. an irregular fold or wrinkle produced by crumpling.

Origin of crumple

1
1400–50; late Middle English; variant of crimple

Other words from crumple

  • crumply, adjective
  • un·crum·pling, adjective

Words Nearby crumple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use crumple in a sentence

  • Then he seemed to crumple up entirely, and, falling forward, rolled with a loud splash into the river.

    The Hero of Panama | F. S. Brereton

British Dictionary definitions for crumple

crumple

/ (ˈkrʌmpəl) /


verb
  1. (when intr, often foll by up) to collapse or cause to collapse: his courage crumpled

  2. (when tr, often foll by up) to crush or cause to be crushed so as to form wrinkles or creases

  1. (intr) to shrink; shrivel

noun
  1. a loose crease or wrinkle

Origin of crumple

1
C16: from obsolete crump to bend; related to Old High German krimpfan to wrinkle, Old Norse kreppa to contract

Derived forms of crumple

  • crumply, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012