crumple

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

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

He helped them to reach Game 7 and hit a trio of three-point shots early in the contest only to — alas — crumple to the floor when his Achilles tendon popped.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2025

Materials designed to crumple or deform in a crash to protect pedestrians or passengers, for example, can be hard or impossible to repair.

From New York Times • Jul. 3, 2023

I crumple up the rest of the napkin: no one, surely, will bother to smooth it out, to check if any is missing.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood