crumble
英 ['krʌmbl] 美 ['krʌmbl]
v.崩溃；弄碎；破灭
CET6 GRE
◉Etymology
"Crumble" 这个单词最早见于15世纪末，来源于古英语 "crymelan"，被认为是 "gecrymman"（意为“碎成面包屑”）的频繁形态，而 "gecrymman" 又来源于 "cruma"（意为面包屑或碎片）。16世纪时，"crumble" 中的 "b" 可能是受法语派生词如 "humble" 的影响而加入的
◉外刊例句
《纽约时报》 (The New York Times), 2023年5月12日“As the economy continues to crumble, many families are facing severe hardships.”“随着经济持续崩溃，许多家庭面临严重困境。”《卫报》 (The Guardian), 2022年11月30日“The old building began to crumble under the weight of years of neglect.”“那座旧建筑在多年忽视的重压下开始崩溃。”◉经典名著
在查尔斯·狄更斯的小说《大卫·科波菲尔》（David Copperfield）中，词汇“crumble”用来描绘一种情境：
“His hopes seemed to crumble like the walls of an ancient castle under siege.”“他的希望似乎像在围攻下的古老城堡的墙壁一样崩溃。”◉Usage Examples
(1) The masonry of the old building began to crumble.
(2) The earthquake made the wall sink and start to crumble.
(3) He crumbled the bread in his fingers.
(4) Even these hard parts may crumble to dust.
(5) His dearest hopes crumbled to nothing.
(1) 旧楼房的砖石结构开始崩落。
(2) 这次地震把这堵墙震得下陷并开始崩塌。
(3) 他用手指把面包捏碎了。
(4) 甚至这些坚硬的部分也会破碎成粉末。
(5) 他最大的希成了泡影。
◉Usage Notes
To crumble is to come apart into tiny pieces. If the doughnuts you bring to work crumble before you get there, you co-workers will have nothing but crumbs to snack on.
Baked goods seem to crumble easily, but other things tend to crumble too: old houses, over time; sand castles; fragile ruins; and art objects made from clay. Anything that falls apart, especially into small bits, can be said to crumble. The root of the word is the Old English gecrymman, "to break into crumbs," which in turn comes from cruma, "crumb or fragment."
◉Colins
1. [V-ERG 及物/不及物动词](使)破碎；(使)成碎屑 If something crumbles, or if you crumble it, it breaks into a lot of small pieces. [V] [V n]
Under the pressure, the flint crumbled into fragments...
燧石在压力的作用下碎成了小块。
Roughly crumble the cheese into a bowl.
把干酪大致弄碎，装入一只碗内。
2. [VERB 动词]坍塌；损坏；崩裂 If an old building or piece of land is crumbling, parts of it keep breaking off. [V] [V prep/adv] [V P]
The high and low-rise apartment blocks built in the 1960s are crumbling...
20世纪60年代建造的高低不一的公寓楼群正在逐渐破损坍塌。
The cliffs were estimated to be crumbling into the sea at the rate of 10ft an hour.
预计那处悬崖会以每小时10英尺的速度坍塌坠入大海。
Crumble away means the same as crumble .crumble away 同 crumble
Britain's coastline stretches 4000 kilometres and much of it is crumbling away.
英国的海岸线绵延4,000公里，其中大部分正在逐渐沉陷。
3. [VERB 动词](体系、关系或希望等)崩溃，瓦解，消亡 If something such as a system, relationship, or hope crumbles, it comes to an end. [V]
Their economy crumbled under the weight of United Nations sanctions...
在联合国制裁的重压之下，他们的经济崩溃了。
The traditional marriage is crumbling fast...
传统婚姻正迅速消失。
It only takes a minute for the football hopes of an entire country to crumble.
就在一分钟之内，全国民众的足球梦想就化为了泡影。
Crumble away means the same as crumble .crumble away 同 crumble
Opposition more or less crumbled away.
反对势力差不多都瓦解了。
4. [VERB 动词]不再抵抗；放弃奋斗；无力应付 If someone crumbles, they stop resisting or trying to win, or become unable to cope. [V]
Brighton have too many experienced players to crumble just because we are in town...
布赖顿队有很多经验丰富的队员，他们不会因为我们在城里就丧失斗志。
He is a skilled and ruthless leader who isn't likely to crumble under pressure.
他是个经验丰富、冷酷无情的领导，不会被压力击垮。
5. [N-VAR 可变名词]酥皮水果甜点 A crumble is a baked pudding made from fruit covered with a mixture of flour, butter, and sugar. [usu n N] [BRIT 英]
...apple crumble.
酥皮苹果甜点
