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

I laugh, crumple over; I can’t help myself.

From "Grendel" by John Gardner

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

From Slate ● Jan. 23, 2026

Bynum keeps the camera on her as Jessie crumples her face in her hands.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 21, 2025

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

He hardly looks at the scrap pad on which he’s doodling, but once in a while he tears off a sheet and crumples it up.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

The turning point came midway through the second half, when Swiss striker Breel Embolo crumpled in a heap, apparently the victim of a violent foul.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026

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

From Barron's ● Jun. 27, 2026

Large, irregular, corpuscular clouds made of crumpled paper hung over the stage.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● May 15, 2026

She crumpled her pretend invitation to Simon and put a fresh sheet of paper on the blotter.

From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood

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

"Knowing my son ended up like this, I'm inconsolable, I'm filled with grief," U Hla Aung said, his face crumpling into a sob.

From BBC ● Apr. 2, 2025

They belt with the conviction of Broadway stars, some crumpling from the emotional catharsis.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2024

I made it nearly a quarter mile before the darkness and my dazzled vision betrayed me and I ran headlong into a horse tether, crumpling to the ground in a painful heap.

From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss