Meanings
crumb1
plural crumbs · alternative dialectal crimb · alternative obsolete crum
- countableuncountableA small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).
The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.
2 more examples
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table
1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 16:21At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.
1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC - countableuncountableA small piece of any other solid substance.
Then erase any pencil lines with a good, soft eraser, rubbing gently, in only one direction. A dustbrush can be useful in removing any eraser crumbs.
2012, Caroline Joy Adams, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, page 79Synonyms: chip, crumbling, bit, chip, chunk, tranche, clip, crumbling
- abbreviationcountableellipsisuncountableEllipsis of crumb rubber.
Production of rubber granules, or crumb, is well-established in this country.
2007, R. E. Hester, R. M. Harrison, Waste Treatment and Disposal, page 109 - countableslanguncountableA nobody; a worthless person.
All Dad can think of is a gift certificate from the Melody Inn? And my crumb of a boyfriend doesn't even show up? This is a birthday?
1999, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on the Outside, page 146Synonyms: loser, quidam, absolute zero, also-ran, chopped liver, cipher, Joe Nobody, little guy
- countableslanguncountableA body louse (Pediculus humanus).
present singular third person crumbs · participle present crumbing · participle past crumbed · past crumbed · alternative dialectal crimb · alternative obsolete crum
- transitiveTo cover with crumbs.
Crumb2
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).
nounA small piece of any other solid substance.
nounA bit, small amount.
nounA nobody; a worthless person.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna person who is deemed to be despicable or contemptible
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
crumb · noun, verb
- Proto-Germanic*krumô
- Old Englishcruma“crumb, fragment”
- Middle Englishcrome
- Englishcrumb
From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, and first appeared in the mid-15th century, influenced by crumble and words such as dumb, numb, and thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish in kråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Crumb · proper noun
English, Scottish, and Irish surname, spelling variant of Crum.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ψιχίον
- ψιχίον (psikhíon)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Arabic لُبّ, كِسْرَة
- لُبّ (lubb)soft internal portion of bread
- كِسْرَة (kisra)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- فُتَات (futāt)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Bulgarian троха́, среда
- троха́ (trohá)(figurative) small amount
- среда (sreda)soft internal portion of bread
- троха́ (trohá)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- троша (troša)to cover with crumbs
Catalan mica, molla
- mica(figurative) small amount
- molla(figurative) small amount
- mollasoft internal portion of bread
- resquitxsoft internal portion of bread
- engrunasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- micasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Chinese Mandarin 少許 /少许, 渣
- 少許 /少许 (shǎoxǔ)(figurative) small amount
- 渣 (zhā)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- 渣兒 /渣儿 (zhār)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- 屑 (xiè)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Czech drobek, střída
- drobek(figurative) small amount
- střídasoft internal portion of bread
- střídkasoft internal portion of bread
- drobeksmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Danish krumme
- krummesmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Dutch kruimel, morzel
- kruimel(figurative) small amount
- morzel(figurative) small amount
- kruimsoft internal portion of bread
- kruimelsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- panerento cover with crumbs
Finnish murunen, sisus
- murunen(figurative) small amount
- sisussoft internal portion of bread
- murunensmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- leivittääto cover with crumbs
French mie, miette
- miesoft internal portion of bread
- miettesmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- panerto cover with crumbs
German Krümel, Brösel
- Krümel(figurative) small amount
- Brösel(figurative) small amount
- Krumesoft internal portion of bread
- Schmollesoft internal portion of bread
- Krümelsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- Bröselsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- Brosamesmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- panierento cover with crumbs
Greek ψίχουλα, ψίχα
- ψίχουλα (psíchoula)(figurative) small amount
- ψίχα (psícha)soft internal portion of bread
- ψίχουλο (psíchoulo)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- τρίμμα (trímma)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Hebrew פֵּרוּר
- פֵּרוּר (pērur)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Hungarian morzsányi, kenyérbél
- morzsányi(figurative) small amount
- kenyérbélsoft internal portion of bread
- morzsasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Indonesian remahan
- remahansmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Irish blúire, croí
- blúire(figurative) small amount
- croísoft internal portion of bread
- grabhrógsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- bruscarsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Italian briciola, mollica
- briciola(figurative) small amount
- mollicasoft internal portion of bread
- impastomixture to make industrial chocolate
- briciolasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- impanareto cover with crumbs
Japanese 欠片, 屑
- 欠片 (kakera)(figurative) small amount
- 屑 (kuzu)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- かす (kasu)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Korean 부스러기
- 부스러기 (buseureogi)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Latin frustum, mīca
- frustumsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- mīcasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Lithuanian trupinys
- trupinyssmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Māori kongakonga
- kongakonga(figurative) small amount
Persian خرده
- خرده (xorde)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Polish miękisz, okruch
- miękiszsoft internal portion of bread
- okruchsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Portuguese migalha, miolo (de pão)
- migalha(figurative) small amount
- miolo (de pão)soft internal portion of bread
- migalhasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Romanian miez, sfărâmătură
- miezsoft internal portion of bread
- sfărâmăturăsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- fărâmăsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- fărâmăturăsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Russian кро́шка, кро́ха
- кро́шка (króška)(figurative) small amount
- кро́ха (króxa)(figurative) small amount
- крупи́ца (krupíca)(figurative) small amount
- мя́киш (mjákiš)soft internal portion of bread
- кро́шка (króška)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- кроши́ть (krošítʹ)to cover with crumbs
Scottish Gaelic criomag, sprùilleach
- criomag(figurative) small amount
- sprùilleachsoft internal portion of bread
- criomagsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- sprùilleachsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Slovak drobček
- drobčeksmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Spanish miga, cacho
- miga(figurative) small amount
- cacho(figurative) small amount
- migaja(figurative) small amount
- miaja(figurative) small amount
- migasoft internal portion of bread
- migajasoft internal portion of bread
- molledosoft internal portion of bread
- mollerosoft internal portion of bread
- mollasoft internal portion of bread
- migasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- migajasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- miajasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- empanarto cover with crumbs
Swedish smula, inkråm
- smula(figurative) small amount
- inkråmsoft internal portion of bread
- smulasmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- panerato cover with crumbs
Thai เศษ
- เศษ (sèet)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Turkish ekmek içi, kırıntı
- ekmek içisoft internal portion of bread
- kırıntısmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Ukrainian кри́хта
- кри́хта (krýxta)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Vietnamese miếng, mẫu
- miếngsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- mẫusmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
- mảnh vụnsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Welsh mwydion, bywyn
- mwydionsoft internal portion of bread
- bywynsoft internal portion of bread
- briwsionynsmall piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Yiddish ברעקל
- ברעקל (brekl)small piece of biscuit, cake, etc
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with crumb
All rhymes →Cite this entry
crumb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumb
“crumb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumb. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crumb,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumb.
Source: crumb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.