n. [ AS. cruma, akin to D. kruim, G. krume; cf. G. krauen to scratch, claw. ] [ Written also crum. ] 1. A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. [ 1913 Webster ]

Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Luke xvi. 21. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: A little; a bit; as, a crumb of comfort. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. The soft part of bread. [ 1913 Webster ]

Dust unto dust, what must be, must;
If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust. Old Song. [ 1913 Webster ]

Crumb brush, a brush for sweeping crumbs from a table. --
To a crum, with great exactness; completely. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Crumbed p. pr. & vb. n. Crumbing ] To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; as, to crumb bread. [ Written also crum. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A cloth to be laid under a dining table to receive falling fragments, and keep the carpet or floor clean. [ Written also crumcloth. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Crumbled p. pr. & vb. n. Crumbling ] [ Dim. of crumb, v. t., akin to D. kruimelen G. krümeln. ] To break into small pieces; to cause to fall in pieces. [ 1913 Webster ]

He with his bare wand can unthread thy joints,
And crumble all thy sinews. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To fall into small pieces; to break or part into small fragments; hence, to fall to decay or ruin; to become disintegrated; to perish. [ 1913 Webster ]

If the stone is brittle, it will crumble and pass into the form of gravel. Arbuthnot. [ 1913 Webster ]

The league deprived of its principal supports must soon crumble to pieces. Prescott. [ 1913 Webster ]

adj. broken into small fragments; as, crumbled cookies.
Syn. -- fragmented. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

a. Easily crumbled; friable; brittle. “The crumbly soil.” Hawthorne.
Syn. -- crimp. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The sound of a beaten drum; drum music. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whose morning drumbeat, following the sun, and keeping company with the hours, circles the earth with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of England. D. Webster. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Drumly. ] 1. To be sluggish or lazy; to be confused. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To mumble in speaking. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Grunbled p. pr. & vb. n. Grumbling ] [ Cf. LG. grummeln, grumen, D. grommelen, grommen, and F. grommeler, of German origin; cf. W. grwm, murmur, grumble, surly. √35. Cf. Grum, Grim. ] 1. To murmur or mutter with discontent; to make ill-natured complaints in a low voice and a surly manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

L'Avare, not using half his store,
Still grumbles that he has no more. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To growl; to snarl in deep tones; as, a lion grumbling over his prey. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To rumble; to make a low, harsh, and heavy sound; to mutter; as, the distant thunder grumbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To express or utter with grumbling. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. The noise of one that grumbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A grumbling, discontented disposition. [ 1913 Webster ]

A bad case of grumble. Mrs. H. H. Jackson. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who grumbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a grumbling manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) A bird of Madagascar (Leptosomus discolor), the only living type of a family allied to the rollers. It has a pair of loral plumes. The male is glossy green above, with metallic reflections; the female is spotted with brown and black. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Pref. para- + umbilical. ] (Anat.) Near the umbilicus; -- applied especially to one or more small veins which, in man, connect the portal vein with the epigastric veins in the front wall of the abdomen. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To cause to pass through a rumble, or shaking machine. See Rumble, n., 4. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ OE. romblen, akin to D. rommelen, G. rumpeln, Dan. rumle; cf. Icel. rymja to roar. ] 1. To make a low, heavy, continued sound; as, the thunder rumbles at a distance. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the mean while the skies 'gan rumble sore. Surrey. [ 1913 Webster ]

The people cried and rombled up and down. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To murmur; to ripple. [ 1913 Webster ]

To rumble gently down with murmur soft. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A noisy report; rumor. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Delighting ever in rumble that is new. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A low, heavy, continuous sound like that made by heavy wagons or the reverberation of thunder; a confused noise; as, the rumble of a railroad train. [ 1913 Webster ]

Clamor and rumble, and ringing and clatter. Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

Merged in the rumble of awakening day. H. James. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A seat for servants, behind the body of a carriage. [ 1913 Webster ]

Kit, well wrapped, . . . was in the rumble behind. Dickens. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other. [ 1913 Webster ]

[ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, rumbles. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. & n. from Rumble, v. i. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a rumbling manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Grog. [ Obs. ] Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Naut.) Same as Rombowline. [ 1913 Webster ]