What does "rumple up" mean (sense 1)?

to make cloth, paper, or hair wrinkled and untidy Example: "The children rumpled up the bed before breakfast."

rumple up

B2 neutral separable transitive

to make something wrinkled, creased, or untidy

In plain English

to make something look messy and full of wrinkles

One main meaning — here's how to use it.

1 B2 neutral

uncommon

to make cloth, paper, or hair wrinkled and untidy

"The children rumpled up the bed before breakfast."

separable

Usage tip

Usually used for clothes, bedding, paper, or hair. More descriptive than strongly idiomatic.

Natural word combinations native speakers use most often.

clothes sheet paper hair jacket bed

The five tense forms you'll use most often.

Base

rumple up

I/you/we/they

3rd person

rumples up

he/she/it

Past simple

rumpled up

yesterday

Past participle

rumpled up

have + pp

-ing form

rumpling up

continuous

Listen to native speakers using "rumple up" in real YouTube videos — click a clip to watch it on Looplines.

Swap in when you want variety — tap a linked one to explore it.

crease crumple disarrange mess up muss up wrinkle

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