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# crumb

«crumb» in Mova's school dictionary: **A very small piece of bread, cake or biscuit** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a crumb, crumbs); interjection (crumbs! — British, mild surprise)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A very small piece of bread, cake or biscuit. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#m1)

2) A very small amount of something: "a crumb of hope". [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#m2)

3) "Crumbs!" is an old-fashioned British way of showing surprise. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In everyday life, crumbs fall on the table and floor when we eat; we wipe them up so they do not attract ants and mice. In cooking, breadcrumbs coat food like fish fingers. In stories, Hansel and Gretel dropped a trail of crumbs. Phrases: crumbs on the table, breadcrumbs, a trail of crumbs, a crumb of comfort.

### examples

- Please sweep up the crumbs after lunch. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x1)
- Birds pecked at the crumbs on the path. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x2)
- Hansel dropped crumbs to find the way home. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x3)
- There's not a crumb left of the cake! [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x4)
- Crumbs attract ants into the kitchen. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x5)
- The fish was coated in breadcrumbs. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x6)
- Crumbs! I forgot my homework. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x7)
- Then he wiped the crumbs from his beard and began: [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/#x8)

### note

Countable: a crumb, crumbs. The "b" is silent: said "krum". The verb "crumble" means break into crumbs; "crumbly" means breaks easily. Manners: brush crumbs into your hand or a napkin, not onto the floor.

### In the corpora

- [A mouse wants crumbs, a cockroach wants dark damp corners, and a clothes moth's caterpillar wants your wool jumper.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/biology/397-pests-mice-in-the-kitchen-cockroaches-clothes-moths-fleas-and-head-lice/4/)
- [Then the Mole despairs again: there's nothing to eat, not a crumb!](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/books/43-willows-ch5-part3-sardines-and-carol-singers/6/)
- [Clues in a text, like crumbs on a jumper, can show that a character is not telling the truth.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/english/60-olympiad-tricky-comprehension/10/)
- [Ants come into kitchens for food, so you clean up crumbs and sticky spills.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/68-chickens-goats-and-little-creatures/15/)
- [Old crumbs in a toaster can catch fire, so a grown-up empties the crumb tray when it is unplugged and cold.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/everyday/107-oven-hob-kettle-toaster-and-dishwasher/12/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «crumb» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/C/crumb/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.