Revised as of
30 June 2023
This one just makes me want to . . . I dunno . . . crumble like an Oreo . . . crumple in a heap . . . Hmmmm, I suspect I’d prefer the crumple if only because all my bits would still hang together. Unlike that poor cookie, all those little crumbs waiting to be swept up off the floor.
The key in determining whether you should use crumble or crumple is flaking versus rumply.
- Crumble is either a crumby sort of topping as a noun. As a verb, it’s all about deterioration through time.
- Crumple, on the other hand, is about changing shape through folding, bending, creasing, wrinkling, ahem, fainting.
C’mon, authors, help me keep my cookies down . . . *grin* . . .!
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Crumble | Crumple |
|---|---|
.jpg "Raspberry and apple crumble")
Crumble by James Petts from London, England, is under the CC-BY-SA-2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — A crumbly crumble. |
Crumple Zone by Julo is under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Crumpling, or folding, in on itself. |
| Part of Grammar: | |
| Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: crumbles Third person present verb: crumbles |
Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive
Plural for the noun: crumples Third person present verb: crumples |
| Noun: [British] Mixture of flour and butter that is rubbed to the texture of breadcrumbs and cooked as a topping for fruit
Verb, intransitive:
Verb, transitive:
|
Noun: Crushed fold, crease, or wrinkle Verb, intransitive:
Collapse Verb, transitive: To press, bend, or crush out of shape To cause to collapse |
| Examples: | |
| Noun: Mom makes the best rhubarb crumble! Carl fondly remembered the apple crumble his mom used to make. Verb, intransitive: He knew he had to do something about their crumbling ancestral home. The party’s fragile unity began to crumble. The walls in that old house are crumbling. The company’s management is crumbling. Verb, transitive: |
Noun: Cars today are designed with crumple zones in mind. Verb, intransitive: My shirt got all crumpled in the suitcase. They heard the jetliner crumple moments before it crashed. She crumpled to the floor in a dead faint. The child’s face crumpled, and he began to howl. Her composure crumpled. Verb, transitive: There was a crumpled sheet on the floor. He crumpled to the floor when he saw the blood. The explosion crumpled the building. |
| Derivatives: | |
| Adjective: crumbled, crumblier, crumbliest, crumbling, crumbly Noun: crumbliness |
Adjective: crumpled, crumply |
| History of the Word: | |
| Late Middle English and probably from an Old English word related to crumb. | Middle English from the obsolete crump meaning make or become curved, from the Old English crump meaning bent or crooked. It’s related to the German krumm. |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
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Resources for Crumble versus Crumple
Apple Dictionary.com
Merriam-Webster: crumple
Pinterest Photo Credits
Historically Old Kitchen Equipment is in the public domain, via Max Pixel.net, <https://www.maxpixel.net/Cabinet-Kitchen-Equipment-Kitchen-Historically-Old-1839272>.
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