as in to deteriorate
to become worse or of less value
the stock of the energy company crumbled after the revelations of fraud and mismanagement
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Recent Examples of crumble
This is putting pressure on the surrounding basalt, which, in some instances, is causing the rocks to crack and crumble.
—
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
Both have been neglected for years: Bridges are crumbling, school buildings disintegrating, and trains — once a symbol of German efficiency — are now so unreliable that some lines are banned from neighboring Switzerland’s railways.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 4 June 2025
Bullets that fly off the frame of the film now find a landing spot, as building walls shatter and crumble around us.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025
Acknowledging that is the difference between a network that meets the known and unknown demands of the future and one that crumbles under its own weight.
—Pavel Bykov, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for crumble
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 4 June 2025
Both have been neglected for years: Bridges are crumbling, school buildings disintegrating, and trains — once a symbol of German efficiency — are now so unreliable that some lines are banned from neighboring Switzerland’s railways.
—Tom Chivers, semafor.com, 4 June 2025
Bullets that fly off the frame of the film now find a landing spot, as building walls shatter and crumble around us.
—Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 3 June 2025
Acknowledging that is the difference between a network that meets the known and unknown demands of the future and one that crumbles under its own weight.
—Pavel Bykov, Forbes.com, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for crumble
Recent Examples of Synonyms for crumble
Verb
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But the age and condition of the fleet could deteriorate further, even with an infusion of cash to buy new equipment, because the wait times are so long.—
Alene Tchekmedyian,
Los Angeles Times,
1 June 2025
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Fiscal Policy Without exception, the fiscal position of large countries, including the United States, as measured by government debt relative to GDP, deteriorated due to the impact of spending during the pandemic.—
Bill Stone,
Forbes.com,
1 June 2025
Verb
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There are also mental health impacts with worsening anxiety, stress, and depression in the hotter summer months.—
Jamie Hailstone,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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Relations have only worsened in recent years, as Beijing has leveraged its budding economic and military power to ramp up pressure on its neighbor.—
ELY RATNER,
Foreign Affairs,
27 May 2025
Verb
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The intense setup here is fairly straightforward as these types of sci-fi mystery shows go, with Buenos Aires residents going about their evenings when a sudden nightmarish snowfall descends over the metropolis, killing millions indiscriminately.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
23 May 2025
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The American entrepreneur was one of the five passengers killed on June 18, 2023, while the compact submersible descended en route to the wreckage of the Titanic, and Rush is now in all the talking heads' crosshairs as the villain of this tragic story.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
22 May 2025
Verb
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The April 11 ruling came during a hearing in Maryland, where a Justice Department attorney declined to provide basic details about Abrego Garcia’s whereabouts.—
Chantelle Lee,
Time,
7 June 2025
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From 2015 to 2022, the number of 12- to 17-year-old American adolescents using inhalants declined from 684,000 in 2015 to 554,000 in 2022, according to the US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.—
Jack Beresford,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Crumble.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/crumble. Accessed 10 Jun. 2025.
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