CRUMPLE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does crumple mean? 

• CRUMPLE (verb)
  The verb CRUMPLE has 4 senses:

1. fall apart

2. fold or collapse

3. to gather something into small wrinkles or folds

4. become wrinkled or crumpled or creased

  Familiarity information: CRUMPLE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CRUMPLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they crumple    ... he / she / it crumples   
Past simple: crumpled   
Past participle: crumpled   
-ing form: crumpling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fall apart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break down; collapse; crumble; crumple; tumble

Context example:

Negotiations broke down

Hypernyms (to "crumple" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 2

Meaning:

Fold or collapse

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

buckle; crumple

Context example:

His knees buckled

Hypernyms (to "crumple" is one way to...):

break; cave in; collapse; fall in; founder; give; give way (break down, literally or metaphorically)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

To gather something into small wrinkles or folds

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Synonyms:

cockle; crumple; knit; pucker; rumple

Context example:

She puckered her lips

Hypernyms (to "crumple" is one way to...):

crease; crinkle; crisp; ruckle; scrunch; scrunch up; wrinkle (make wrinkles or creases on a smooth surface; make a pressed, folded or wrinkled line in; 'crisp' is archaic)

Verb group:

draw (contract)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They crumple the sheets

Sense 4

Meaning:

Become wrinkled or crumpled or creased

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

crease; crinkle; crumple; rumple; wrinkle

Context example:

This fabric won't wrinkle

Hypernyms (to "crumple" is one way to...):

fold; fold up (become folded or folded up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence examples:

The sheets didn't crumple
These fabrics crumple easily

 Context examples 

He tossed a crumpled letter across to me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He opened one of his hands, and looked at a note crumpled up in his palm.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

There! you will find it scarcely more legible than a crumpled, scratched page.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He tore it open, glanced his eyes over it, and crumpled it into his pocket.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Moreover, we should not crumple the tickets to throw them in the trash, play with them, write notes on them, or store them in cars, purses or handbags.

(Purchase receipts with easily erasable ink contain cancer- and infertility inducing substances, University of Granada)

Poole felt in his pocket and handed out a crumpled note, which the lawyer, bending nearer to the candle, carefully examined.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

No sooner thought than done, and he crumpled the cuffs spitefully as he flung them upon an unusually dirty floor.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

He regained his balance by the steerage companion-way and stood there dizzily for a space, when he suddenly crumpled up and collapsed, his legs bending under him as he sank to the deck.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Thus he thought, and crumpled up and sank down upon the wet earth.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

I can hold them crumpled up in my hand, so no one will know how stained they are.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)