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

Emergency alert systems that crumple when needed most.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

I don’t want to see her crumple up like that, because I have nothing to offer her in the way of solace.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

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

Her face crumples, squished like the paratha dough I saw on YouTube.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

When suddenly, from the depths of this cave, he pulled out a very crumpled, brown paper bag with soft, ivory fabric peaking out between the twine handles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 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

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

“Southwest,” said Cook to Marco, looking at the crumpled copy of the map that Razi had drawn.

From "The Boy Who Met a Whale" by Nizrana Farook

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

Whether he was laughing, brooding or crumpling into sobs to create one of the most well-known and widely circulated meme GIFs of all time, Van Der Beek’s expressive appeal propelled him to virtually overnight superstardom.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 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

He heard car crashes at least once a week, but this sound was worse - Celestial bronze crumpling, wood splintering, stallions screaming and a goddess wailing in two distinct voices, both of them very surprised.

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan