1
as in scrunching
to create (as by crushing) an irregular mass of creases in
crumpled the piece of paper and angrily threw it in the wastebasket
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in collapsing
to fall down or in as a result of physical pressure
the box crumpled when I accidentally dropped a brick on it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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Recent Examples of crumpling
The sixth inning also featured a frightening moment when Cleveland’s David Fry, squaring around to bunt, took a 99 mph fastball from Skubal off his face, crumpling to the dirt as Skubal reacted with distress.
—
Zack Meisel, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Singh’s truck blocked both lanes of the northbound Turnpike, leading the Chrysler Town & Country minivan the three friends were riding in to slam into the semi’s 18-wheeler trailer, crumpling underneath it.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2025
Zack Meisel, New York Times, 24 Sep. 2025
Singh’s truck blocked both lanes of the northbound Turnpike, leading the Chrysler Town & Country minivan the three friends were riding in to slam into the semi’s 18-wheeler trailer, crumpling underneath it.
—Jacqueline Charles, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crumpling
Verb
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And some ankle booties with wedge heels might appear moderate, but can actually throw your weight onto the balls of your feet, scrunching your toes up against the toe box.—
Amelia McBride,
Travel + Leisure,
26 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Last week, as financial panic escalated following Milei’s party’s poor showing in local elections, Argentina’s central bank spent more than $1 billion of its foreign currency reserves to keep the peso from collapsing.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
25 Sep. 2025
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Long after John Quincy Adams passed away in 1848 (collapsing of a stroke while working at his desk in the Capitol), newer versions emerged—as Jim Crow laws, after the failure of Reconstruction in the 1870s, and later as the filibuster during the civil rights movement of the mid-20th century.—
Time,
Time,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For an easy folding wallet, look no further than Tory Burch.—
Abby Morgan Lebet,
Glamour,
23 Sep. 2025
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Every participant walked and jogged on their folding treadmill at least four times a week, using various speeds and inclines to assess the machine’s versatility, durability, and comfort during use.—
Claire Harmeyer,
PEOPLE,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For the pair of galaxies, the hot gas cloud of ionized gas, filled with free electrons and which stretches for millions of light years around the cluster is like tumbling into a vat of treacle that then begins to scour the gas on the leading edge of the infalling galaxies, ablating it.—
Keith Cooper,
Space.com,
25 Sep. 2025
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The boulders must have kept tumbling downstream because 500 years later, a Middle Kingdom Pharaoh (Senusret III/Khakaura) dug a new trench.—
Vanessa Taylor,
Big Think,
25 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Stored this way, limes should last for about a month or longer with wrinkling or drying up.—
Katie Rosenhouse,
Southern Living,
21 Sep. 2025
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After a nutria was tossed fifteen or twenty times, snotlike entrails began to protrude from the bullet holes, at which point Miss Louisiana, wrinkling her nose, would place it in a trash bucket and select a fresh carcass from the cooler.—
Nathaniel Rich,
Harpers Magazine,
20 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crumpling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crumpling. Accessed 29 Sep. 2025.
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