crumb
/kɹʌm/noun, verb
crumb is spelled C-R-U-M-B: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, crumb means “A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread)” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of crumb is crumbs.
How many letters and syllables are in crumb?
| Letters | 5: C-R-U-M-B |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,017th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is crumb?
Crumb appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,017th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce crumb?
- US /kɹʌm/
- Australia /kɹɐm/
- /kɹʊm/
Crumb has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-crumb.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with crumb?
8 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as crumb from its last stressed vowel (/ʌm/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of crumb
- crumbs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- crumbing participle, present
- crumbed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does crumb mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small piece which breaks off from baked food (such as cake, biscuit or bread).
The pigeons were happily pecking at crumbs of bread on the ground.
- 2
A small piece of any other solid substance.
- 3
A bit, small amount.
a crumb of comfort
- 4
Ellipsis of crumb rubber.
- 5
The soft internal portion of bread, surrounded by crust.
- 6
A mixture of sugar, cocoa and milk, used to make industrial chocolate.
- 7
slangA nobody; a worthless person.
- 8
slangA body louse (Pediculus humanus).
verb
- 1
To cover with crumbs.
- 2
To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; to crumble.
to crumb bread
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Crumb in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | miette , mie , paner |
| German | Krümel, Brösel, Brosame , Krume , panieren |
| Portuguese | migalha , miolo (de pão) |
| Spanish | miga, migaja, miaja , empanar , cacho |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does crumb come from?
From Middle English crome, cromme, crumme, crume, from Old English cruma (“crumb, fragment”), from Proto-Germanic *krumô, *krūmô (“fragment, crumb”). The b is unetymological, as in limb, and first appeared in the mid-15th century, influenced by crumble and words such as dumb, numb, and thumb. Cognate with Dutch kruim (“crumb”), Low German Krome, Krume (“crumb”), German Krume (“crumb”), Danish krumme (“crumb”), Swedish dialectal krumma (“crumb”), Swedish in kråm (“crumbs, giblets”), Icelandic krumur (“crumb”), Latin grūmus (“a little heap”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).