From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishcrumplecrum‧ple /ˈkrʌmpəl/ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive] (also crumple up)SQUASH to crush something so that it becomes smaller and bent, or to be crushed in this way Dan tore the page out, crumpled it, and threw it in the wastepaper basket.2 [intransitive]DISAPPOINTED if your face crumples, you suddenly look sad or disappointed, as if you might cry3 [intransitive]FALL if your body crumples, you fall down in an uncontrolled waycrumple to The blow hit him on the head and he crumpled to the ground.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
crumple• The rickety wood splintered under the impact and Jack crumpled, blood welling from a gash on his forehead.• Mitchell crumpled both and pitched them into the wastebasket.• He crumpled his shirt into a ball and threw it into the laundry basket.• As the bullet tore through his leg, he crumpled to the ground.• He crumpled to the ice with a shattered fourth cervical vertebra, his body paralyzed from the neck down.• The whole front of the car crumpled upon impact with the wall.Origin crumple (1300-1400) crump “to curl up” ((14-19 centuries)), from crump, crumb “bent” ((11-18 centuries)), from Old English 