/ krʌm; NAmE / noun
1.
a very small piece of food, especially of bread or cake, that has fallen off a larger piece :
She stood up and brushed the crumbs from her sweater.
2.
a small piece or amount :
a few crumbs of useful information
The government's only crumb of comfort is that their opponents are as confused as they are.
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WORD ORIGIN
Old English cruma , of Germanic origin; related to Dutch kruim and German Krume . The final -b was added in the 16th cent., perhaps from crumble but also influenced by words such as dumb , where the original final -b is retained although no longer pronounced.