crumple

They were at work when the quakes struck, causing high-rise apartment buildings, shopping centers and schools to crumple.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

To wrap a basketball, for example, you’d need to crumple the paper in a horrible mess or cut many pieces and tape them together with unsightly overlaps.

From Slate ● Jan. 21, 2026

His adversaries think he’ll crumple like yesterday’s broadsheet when they turn him away, and are perturbed to realize he’s more like the human equivalent of tissue hanging onto the heel of a shoe.

From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2025

Joseph executed her role to perfection as she took all the pressure off 33-year-old Dottin, but when she departed with 41 runs still needed, there was some concern that West Indies could crumple.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2024

Then, as he tried to lap the water, his legs seemed to crumple under him and he collapsed, half in and half out of the rut.

From "The Incredible Journey" by Sheila Burnford

If people and institutions and businesses and government stand up to him, he crumples.

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

A piercing scream erupts in the crowd; a woman’s face crumples and flutters, like a paper mask about to disintegrate.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 11, 2023

His forehead crumples as he does so and his big hands shake.

From BBC ● Jun. 8, 2023

The situation is akin to a car that crumples in a crash: the vehicle absorbs the impact to protect passengers, but it is totaled.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2023

The wizard flies across the room, smacks the wall, and crumples in an unconscious heap.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

This middle-class neighborhood's imposing residential buildings -- and even a five-star hotel -- crumpled during the tremors.

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

As the lava cooled and contracted, it folded and crumpled, producing uneven features known as 'wrinkle ridges'.

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026

All they found was a crumpled bag of chips.

From Salon ● May 12, 2026

Far from luxuriating in a serene and pristine writing environment, Ms. Lewin reveals, Woolf worked amid “old nibs, bits of string, used matches, rusty paper-clips, crumpled envelopes, broken cigarette-holders, etc.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 27, 2026

She shook her head and shrugged at the same time, the scarf crumpled tight in her hand.

From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron

Videos posted to social media and verified by AFP on Monday showed the catastrophic collapse of a shopping centre in General Santos, and an unoccupied school building crumpling.

From Barron's ● Jun. 9, 2026

Whether he was laughing, brooding or crumpling into sobs to create one of the most well-known and widely circulated meme GIFs of all time, Van Der Beek’s expressive appeal propelled him to virtually overnight superstardom.

From Salon ● Feb. 15, 2026

It’s a mean taunt that comes from a sibling, unaware that civilization is crumpling around him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2025

“I want people to know that we’re just normal people,” Ms. Broadbent, her face crumpling as she fought through tears, told Mr. Johnson.

From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2024

Liam reached over and ripped the paper out of my hand, crumpling it slightly in his fist.

From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken