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Definition of crumb noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

crumb

noun
 
/krʌm/
 
/krʌm/
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  1. a very small piece of food, especially of bread or cake, that has fallen off a larger piece
    • She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater.
    Extra Examples
    • He didn't even leave any crumbs on his plate.
    • I swept away the crumbs.
    • She brushed the cake crumbs off the table.
    • a few crumbs of bread
    Topics Foodc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • biscuit
    • bread
    • cake
    verb + crumb
    • brush
    • sweep
    • wipe
    preposition
    • crumb of
    See full entry
  2. a small piece or amount
    • I managed to pick up a few crumbs of useful information.
    • The government's only crumb of comfort is that their opponents are as confused as they are.
  3. Word OriginOld English cruma, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kruim and German Krume. The final -b was added in the 16th cent., perhaps from crumble but also influenced by words such as dumb, where the original final -b is retained although no longer pronounced.
See crumb in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
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