1 C1 informal
To coat food with breadcrumbs before cooking.
"She crumbed up the chicken fillets before shallow-frying them."
separable
crumb up
C1 informal separable transitive/intransitive
To coat food with breadcrumbs; or to become covered with or fill with crumbs.
In plain English
To cover food with breadcrumbs before cooking, or to make something messy with crumbs.
What does "crumb up" mean?
2 meanings, ordered from most common to least. Color-coded by CEFR level.
2 C1 informal
To fill or cover a surface or area with crumbs, making it messy.
"The kids had completely crumbed up the sofa with their snacks."
separable
Literal vs figurative
Words literally mean
To cover something upward with crumbs, or to fill something up with crumbs.
Actually means
To cover food with breadcrumbs before cooking, or to make something messy with crumbs.
Usage tip
A rare, informal phrasal verb. The sense of coating food is less standard than simply 'bread' or 'coat with breadcrumbs'. Also used informally to mean making a place messy with crumbs.
Words that pair with "crumb up"
Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.
chicken fish cutlet seat sofa keyboard
How to conjugate "crumb up"
The five tense forms you'll use most often.
Base
crumb up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
crumbs up
he/she/it
Past simple
crumbed up
yesterday
Past participle
crumbed up
have + pp
-ing form
crumbing up
continuous
Hear "crumb up" in the wild
Listen to native speakers using "crumb up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.
Other ways to say "crumb up"
Swap in when you want variety — tap a linked one to explore it.
bread coat crumble dust with breadcrumbs
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