crumb
noun
- small piece of food, from bread, cake or other, that has crumbled off
- soft interior part of a piece of bread
verb
- coat with breadcrumbs
Wiktionary
Pronunciation: /kɹʌm/
name
Etymology: English, Scottish, and Irish surname, spelling variant of Crum.
- A surname.
noun
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”).
- A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).
“The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.”
“desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table”
- A small piece of any other solid substance.
“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.”
- A bit, small amount.
“a crumb of comfort”
- Ellipsis of crumb rubber.
“Production of rubber granules, or crumb, is well-established in this country.”
- The soft internal portion of bread, surrounded by crust.
“Dust unto dust, what must be, must; / If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust.”
- A mixture of sugar, cocoa and milk, used to make industrial chocolate.
- A nobody; a worthless person.
“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?”
- A body louse (Pediculus humanus).
verb
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”).
- To cover with crumbs.
- To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; to crumble.
“to crumb bread”