crumple
verbEtymology From Middle English crumplen, cromplen, frequentative of Middle English crumpen (“to curl up, crump”), from Old English crump (“bent, crooked”). Equivalent to crump + -le.
1
To rumple; to press into wrinkles by crushing together.
- He crumpled the note and threw it away.
2
To cause to collapse.
- He crumpled the car's body panels when he backed into a post.
3
To become wrinkled.
- The car's body panels crumpled when they hit the post.
4
Figuratively To collapse; to surrender.
- The team's defensive strategy crumpled.
- The defenders crumpled owing to exhaustion and dehydration.
1 more example
- 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):
- Derived terms
- crumpler, crumple up, crumply, recrumple, uncrumple, crumple zone
- Related terms
- crumpet