crumb

Alternative forms

• crimb (dialectal), crum (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”), from Proto-Indo-European *grū-mo- (“something scraped together, lumber, junk; to claw, scratch”), from *ger- (“to turn, bend, twist, wind”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, appearing in the mid-15th century to match crumble and words like dumb, numb, thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish inkråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kɹʌm/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌm

Noun

crumb (countable and uncountable, plural crumbs)

1. A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).

   Synonyms: crumbling, crumblet

   The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 16:21:

     desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table

   • 1892, Walter Besant, chapter II, in The Ivory Gate […], New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […], →OCLC:

     At twilight in the summer there is never anybody to fear—man, woman, or cat—in the chambers and at that hour the mice come out. They do not eat parchment or foolscap or red tape, but they eat the luncheon crumbs.

2. A small piece of any other solid substance.

   Synonyms: chip, crumbling; see also Thesaurus:piece

   • 2012, Caroline Joy Adams, An Italic Calligraphy Handbook, page 79:

     Then erase any pencil lines with a good, soft eraser, rubbing gently, in only one direction. A dustbrush can be useful in removing any eraser crumbs.

3. (figuratively) A bit, small amount.

   Synonyms: grain, morsel; see also Thesaurus:modicum

   a crumb of comfort

4. Short for crumb rubber.
   • 2007, R. E. Hester, R. M. Harrison, Waste Treatment and Disposal, page 109:

     Production of rubber granules, or crumb, is well-established in this country.

5. The soft internal portion of bread, surrounded by crust.
   • 1861, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown at Oxford:

     Dust unto dust, what must be, must; / If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust.

6. A mixture of sugar, cocoa and milk, used to make industrial chocolate.
7. (slang) A nobody; a worthless person.

   Synonyms: loser, quidam; see also Thesaurus:nonentity, Thesaurus:worthless person

   • 1999, Phyllis Reynolds Naylor, Alice on the Outside, page 146:

     All Dad can think of is a gift certificate from the Melody Inn? And my crumb of a boyfriend doesn't even show up? This is a birthday?

8. (slang) A body louse (Pediculus humanus).

Verb

crumb (third-person singular simple present crumbs, present participle crumbing, simple past and past participle crumbed)

1. (transitive) To cover with crumbs.
2. (transitive) To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; to crumble.

   to crumb bread

Adjective

crumb

1. Alternative form of crump