crumple
Americanverb (used with object)
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to press or crush into irregular folds or into a compact mass; bend out of shape; rumple; wrinkle.
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to cause to collapse or give way suddenly.
That right hook to the midsection crumpled him.
verb (used without object)
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to contract into wrinkles; shrink; shrivel.
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to give way suddenly; collapse.
The bridge crumpled under the weight of the heavy trucks.
noun
verb
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to collapse or cause to collapse
his courage crumpled
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to crush or cause to be crushed so as to form wrinkles or creases
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(intr) to shrink; shrivel
noun
Other Word Forms
- crumply adjective
- uncrumpling adjective
Etymology
Origin of crumple
1400–50; late Middle English; variant of crimple
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
To wrap a basketball, for example, you’d need to crumple the paper in a horrible mess or cut many pieces and tape them together with unsightly overlaps.
From Slate • Jan. 21, 2026
His adversaries think he’ll crumple like yesterday’s broadsheet when they turn him away, and are perturbed to realize he’s more like the human equivalent of tissue hanging onto the heel of a shoe.
From Salon • Sep. 23, 2025
He helped them to reach Game 7 and hit a trio of three-point shots early in the contest only to — alas — crumple to the floor when his Achilles tendon popped.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025
The close-ups of their faces, as they crumple or freeze in the act of realization, are devastating, and not just for those undersold at $1.
From New York Times • Jun. 18, 2024
Foot pressed on the brake, he screeched to the right and saw the front hood of his truck crumple and rise.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
