to begin to crumble
4
4.0
- phrasal verb
:
comenzar a desmoronarse
- Suddenly, with a large crashing sound, a building nearby begins to crumble.
It's so entrenched that to do that is to have the very foundations of their world shaken, potentially begin to crumble.
- It's so entrenched that to do that is to have the very foundations of their world shaken, potentially begin to crumble.
Examples
-
Something in her began to crumble.
Fiction book (2001) -
In town after town, "whites only" rules began to crumble.
Fiction book (2002) -
Tomorrow America will begin to crumble.
-
Suddenly, the illusion of white power is beginning to crumble.
-
Little by little, the hedge that we always took for granted has begun to crumble.
Blog text (26) -
The walls of Fortress Europe began to crumble.
-
The coffin's ancient stone begins to crumble.
Fiction book (1990) -
But the keystones of this hastily constructed stone wall quickly began to crumble.
Academic text (2003) -
The fragile alliance between the KMT and the CCP began to crumble, as Communist Lu Chi Hyun explained.
-
After years of neglect, the old barn has begun to crumble, with pieces of the roof falling down.
Synonyms
177
3.4
To break into small pieces or become weaker and collapse
155
2.8
To break into pieces or stop working properly
146
5.9
To get worse in quality, condition, or value
83
4.2
Gradually make someone's trust, belief, or support weaker over time
37
4.4
To slowly fall into ruin because of age or neglect
35
5.8
Fall apart into smaller pieces or stop working together
20
7.4
To become worse and more chaotic
16
4.2
To slowly become weaker or fall apart because it is not cared for
9
5.3
To begin to fail, fall apart, or lose control
6
6.1
To become much worse or ruined
5
7.2
To fall apart or stop working properly after being stable
2
7.3
To become untidy and overgrown and lose quality
1
8.4
To fall into ruin or cause something to fall into ruin because it is not cared for
A thing that breaks into small pieces and falls apart because of age or lack of care
Antonyms
How Damaged
35
5.8
579
3.9
155
2.8
4
4.0
311
1.0
3
3.8
44
4.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to start to deteriorate or fall apart' is directly compositional: 'begin' = to start and 'crumble' = to fall apart, with 'to' serving as the infinitival marker. This construction follows a common verb + infinitive pattern found across many languages and would be immediately understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase begin to crumble comes from the image of old stone walls, bread, or cake starting to break into tiny pieces, because the verb crumble means to break into crumbs. So when something begins to crumble it 'starts to fall apart' or 'becomes weaker'.