Thesaurus.com
Dictionary.com
Definitions

crumple

[kruhm-puhl] / ˈkrʌm pəl /


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.

See Examples For:

They were at work when the quakes struck, causing high-rise apartment buildings, shopping centers and schools to crumple.

From Barron's Jun. 29, 2026

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

Even if voters crumple up and toss the congressional maps Yee and others drafted, none felt as though their labors were wasted.

From Los Angeles Times Aug. 24, 2025

Rot and death would spread through their venerable trunks and crumple their limbs — but their roots and stumps, cradled by the continent’s most ancient mountains, lived on in the sandy, acidic Appalachian soil.

From Salon Dec. 18, 2023

My cheeks flush, and I crumple up my napkin to cover the half-chewed bite.

From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy

If people and institutions and businesses and government stand up to him, he crumples.

From Slate Jan. 23, 2026

Bynum keeps the camera on her as Jessie crumples her face in her hands.

From Los Angeles Times Mar. 21, 2025

Mesut's face crumples into tears and he turns away to compose himself.

From BBC Mar. 11, 2023

The situation is akin to a car that crumples in a crash: the vehicle absorbs the impact to protect passengers, but it is totaled.

From Scientific American Feb. 22, 2023

As far as I know, Christina hasn’t cried since we got here, but now her face crumples and she lets out a sob that is louder than the river.

From "Divergent" by Veronica Roth

In Manizales, an AFP journalist saw many damaged buildings, including the crumpled tower of the city's beloved neo-Gothic cathedral.

From Barron's Aug. 10, 2026

More recently, I tidied the home of a friend who was in the hospital, the pill bottles and crumpled blankets left in situ as evidence of someone else’s pain.

From Los Angeles Times May 28, 2026

As the lava cooled and contracted, it folded and crumpled, producing uneven features known as 'wrinkle ridges'.

From Science Daily May 15, 2026

All they found was a crumpled bag of chips.

From Salon May 12, 2026

Calvin looked annoyed at the request, but Ella dug around in her bag and thrust a crumpled scrap of paper and the nub of a pencil into my hand.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP on Monday showed the catastrophic collapse of a shopping centre in General Santos, and an unoccupied school building crumpling.

From Barron's Jun. 9, 2026

For a thrilling moment, the movie is a platonic rom-com about two dissatisfied artists coming together from opposite directions: Danny crumpling under mass scrutiny, Rick weary of obscurity.

From Los Angeles Times May 28, 2026

"But when we reached the clinic, we saw that it was closed. I didn't know it had shut down," he said, his face crumpling with agony.

From BBC Sep. 14, 2025

But first, she sobs, crumpling into Samuel’s arms while he holds her close.

From Salon Dec. 30, 2024

I ball my hand into an angry fist, crumpling the note with it.

From "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton




Vocabulary lists containing crumple


Vocabulary.com logo
by dictionary.com

Dictionary.com's Learning Companion

Go beyond just looking up words.
Remember them forever with VocabTrainer.

Start training