crumple

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

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

The league is about to crumple it up and throw it out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 30, 2023

I’d write it, throw it away, write it, crumple it up, throw it away.

From "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher

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

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

A piercing scream erupts in the crowd; a woman’s face crumples and flutters, like a paper mask about to disintegrate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023

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

The greyhound lets go of Fabian, who crumples to the ground, and the dog is off running, first trying to catch the kids, and then alongside them, and then out in front.

From "The Inquisitor's Tale" by Adam Gidwitz

I didn’t feel any affinity with the humanoid that smashed Bolt’s 100-meter record, but found the robot weightlifter that crumpled under a 15kg barbell and staggered into a table very relatable.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

The turning point came midway through the second half, when Swiss striker Breel Embolo crumpled in a heap, apparently the victim of a violent foul.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

Large, irregular, corpuscular clouds made of crumpled paper hung over the stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

The affected dormitory had shattered windows, blackened walls and a crumpled corrugated iron roof, an AFP journalist saw.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

I strip off my crumpled dress, dip a cloth in the chipped bowl we use for wash water, and scrub everything I can reach until it tingles.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

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

"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 want people to know that we’re just normal people,” Ms. Broadbent, her face crumpling as she fought through tears, told Mr. Johnson.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

Chip slid down to the floor, crumpling like one of those rag dolls Katherine used to drag around by the feet.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix