crumb1 (krum)

t. [ If any man eate of your dish, crom you therein no Bread. Babees Book (E. E. T. S.), p. 76. 2t. To crumble bread into; prepare or thicken with crumbs of bread. The next was a dish of milk well crumbed . Bunyan , Pilgrim's Progre . Mrs. Bibber here took pity on me, and crumm'd me a me of gruel. Dryden, Wild Gallant, i. 1. 3. In cookery , to cover or dre with breadcrumbs, as meat, etc.; bread. crumb2t, a. Same as crump1. crumb-brush (krum'brush), n. crumbs off the table. crumb-cloth (krum klôth), n. A brush for 1. A cloth, chiefly of a stout kind of damask, laid under a table to receive falling fragments and keep the carpet or floor clean. It is often made to extend over the greater part of a dining-room floor.-2. A stout kind of damask used for stair-coverings. crumb-knife (krum'nif), п. A knife used instead of a brush for removing crumbs from a table. crumble (krum'bl), v.; pret. and pp. crumbled, Ppr. crumbling. [E. dial. also crimble (cf. crimb ); = D. kruimelen = G. krümeln = LG. krömeln, crumble; freq. of crumbl, v.] I. trans. To break into small fragments; divide into minute parts or morsels. He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints, And crumble all thy sinews. Milton , Comus, 1. 614. II. in trans. 1. To fall into small pieces; break or part into small fragments; become disintegrated. Close to the temple was the castle-gate, Doorle and crumbling . William Morris, Earthly Paradise, I. 325. In the house forever crumbles Some fragment of the frescoed walls. Browning , De Gustibus. Dr. King witne ed the crumbling proce whilst drying some perfect [worm] castings. Mr. Scott also remarks on the crumbling of the castings near Calcutta. Darwin, Vegetable Mould, p. 276. 2. To fall into desuetude; decay; become frittered away; disappear piecemeal. One hundred and forty you sand pounds had crumbled away in the most imperceptible manner. Disraeli, Young Duke, iv. 9. One error after another silently crumbled into the dust. Story, Speech, Cambridge, Aug. 31, 1826.