Meanings
present singular third person crumples · participle present crumpling · participle past crumpled · past crumpled
- transitiveTo rumple; to press into wrinkles by crushing together.
He crumpled the note and threw it away.
- intransitiveTo become wrinkled.
The car's body panels crumpled when they hit the post.
- figurativelyintransitiveTo collapse; to surrender.
The team's defensive strategy crumpled.
2 more examples
The defenders crumpled owing to exhaustion and dehydration.
Yes, Juve were unfortunate, in the extreme, with the deflected goal from Casemiro that gave Madrid a 2-1 lead just after the hour. From that point onwards, however, it was staggering to see a team renowned for defensive structure crumple this way.
2017 June 3, Daniel Taylor, “Real Madrid win Champions League as Cristiano Ronaldo double defeats Juve”, in The Guardian (London)
Synonyms & antonyms
More synonyms by meaning
verbto gather something into small wrinkles or folds
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishcrump“bent, crooked”
- Middle Englishcrumpen“to curl up, crump”
- Middle Englishcrumplen
- Englishcrumple
From Middle English crumplen, cromplen, frequentative of Middle English crumpen (“to curl up, crump”), from Old English crump (“bent, crooked”). Equivalent to crump + -le.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian мачкам, набръчквам
- мачкам (mačkam)to rumple
- набръчквам (nabrăčkvam)to rumple
- раздробявам (razdrobjavam)to cause to collapse
- мачкам се (mačkam se)to become wrinkled
- набръчквам се (nabrăčkvam se)to become wrinkled
Chinese Mandarin 弄皺 /弄皱
- 弄皺 /弄皱 (nòng zhòu)to rumple
Czech mačkat, muchlat
- mačkatto rumple
- muchlatto rumple
- krčitto rumple
- mnoutto rumple
- zmačkatto rumple
- zmuchlatto rumple
- mačkat seto become wrinkled
- hroutit seto collapse
Finnish rypistää, rutistaa
- rypistääto rumple
- rutistaato rumple
- rypistyäto become wrinkled
- lyyhistyäto collapse
French chiffonner, froisser
- chiffonnerto rumple
- froisserto rumple
- se froisserto become wrinkled
- s'effondrerto collapse
German knüllen, zerknittern
- knüllento rumple
- zerknitternto rumple
- verkrumpelnto rumple
- zerknitternto become wrinkled
Greek τσαλακώνω, ζαρώνω
- τσαλακώνω (tsalakóno)to rumple
- ζαρώνω (zaróno)to rumple
- σωριάζω (soriázo)to cause to collapse
- ζαρώνω (zaróno)to become wrinkled
- σωριάζομαι (soriázomai)to collapse
- καταρρέω (katarréo)to collapse
Indonesian lecek
- lecekto rumple
Irish crap
- crapto cause to collapse
Japanese しわくちゃにする
- しわくちゃにする (shiwakucha ni suru)to rumple
Malay remuk, renyuk
- remukto rumple
- renyukto rumple
- kerumukto rumple
- berkedutto become wrinkled
Māori tarihahohaho, kopenu
- tarihahohahoto rumple
- kopenuto cause to collapse
- kōpenupenuto cause to collapse
- ngaekito collapse
Polish miąć
- miąćto rumple
Portuguese amassar, amassar
- amassarto rumple
- amassarto become wrinkled
Romanian cocoloși
- cocoloșito rumple
Russian смина́ть, мять
- смина́ть (sminátʹ)to rumple
- мять (mjatʹ)to rumple
- смять (smjatʹ)to rumple
- ко́мкать (kómkatʹ)to rumple
- ско́мкать (skómkatʹ)to rumple
- мо́рщиться (mórščitʹsja)to become wrinkled
- мяться (mjatʹsja)to become wrinkled
Slovak mäť
- mäťto rumple
Spanish arrugar, ajar
- arrugarto rumple
- ajarto rumple
- rugarto rumple
- ahajar (disused)to rumple
- colapsarto cause to collapse
- arrugarseto become wrinkled
- ajarseto become wrinkled
- colapsar[se]to collapse
Swedish skrynkla ihop
- skrynkla ihopto rumple
Ukrainian жма́кати, м'я́ти
- жма́кати (žmákaty)to rumple
- м'я́ти (mʺjáty)to rumple
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with crumple
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
crumple. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumple
“crumple.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumple. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “crumple,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/crumple.
Source: crumple on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.