A small fragment or piece; especially, a small piece of bread or other food, broken or cut off. [1913 Webster]
"Desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's table." [1913 Webster]
Fig.: A little; a bit; as, a crumb of comfort. [1913 Webster]
The soft part of bread. [1913 Webster]
"Dust unto dust, what must be, must;
If you can't get crumb, you'd best eat crust." [1913 Webster]

Crumb brush, a brush for sweeping crumbs from a table. -- To a crum, with great exactness; completely.

crumb, v. t.

To break into crumbs or small pieces with the fingers; as, to crumb bread. [1913 Webster]

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OXFORD DICTIONARY

crumb, n. & v.
--n.
1 a a small fragment, esp. of bread. b a small particle (a crumb of comfort).
2 the soft inner part of a loaf of bread.
3 sl. an objectionable person.
--v.tr.
1 cover with breadcrumbs.
2 break into crumbs.

Etymology

OE cruma

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THESAURUS

crumb

abrade, air pollution, atom, atomize, attritus, beat, besprinkle, bit, bite, bran, bray, bread, brecciate, butt, chip, chunk, clip, clipping, collop, comminute, contriturate, cosmic dust, crumble, crush, cut, cutting, disintegrate, dollop, dot, dram, dredge, drop, droplet, dust, dust ball, efflorescence, end, fallout, farina, filings, fleck, flour, flyspeck, fragment, gnat, gob, gobbet, grain, granulate, granulize, grate, grind, grind to powder, grits, groats, hunk, iota, jot, kittens, levigate, lint, lota, lump, mash, meal, microbe, microorganism, midge, mill, minim, minutia, minutiae, mite, modicum, moiety, molecule, morceau, morsel, mote, nip, ounce, paring, particle, patch, pepper, pestle, piece, pinhead, pinpoint, point, pound, powder, pulverize, pussies, rasher, raspings, reduce to powder, sawdust, scintilla, scoop, scrap, scrunch, shard, shaving, shiver, shred, slice, sliver, smash, smidgen, smithereen, smut, snack, snatch, snick, snip, snippet, soot, spatter, speck, speckle, splatter, splinter, spot, sprinkle, squash, stitch, stud, stump, tag, tatter, tittle, triturate, vanishing point

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ROGET THESAURUS

crumb

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Pulverulence

N powderiness, pulverulence, sandiness, efflorescence, friability, powder, dust, sand, shingle, sawdust, grit, meal, bran, flour, farina, rice, paddy, spore, sporule, crumb, seed, grain, particle, limature, filings, debris, detritus, tailings, talus slope, scobs, magistery, fine powder, flocculi, smoke, cloud of dust, cloud of sand, cloud of smoke, puff of smoke, volume of smoke, sand storm, dust storm, pulverization, comminution, attenuation, granulation, disintegration, subaction, contusion, trituration, levigation, abrasion, detrition, multure, limitation, tripsis, filing, mill, arrastra, gristmill, grater, rasp, file, mortar and pestle, nutmeg grater, teeth, grinder, grindstone, kern, quern, koniology, powdery, pulverulent, granular, mealy, floury, farinaceous, branny, furfuraceous, flocculent, dusty, sandy, sabulous, psammous, arenose, arenarious, arenaceous, gritty, efflorescent, impalpable, lentiginous, lepidote, sabuline, sporaceous, sporous, pulverizable, friable, crumbly, shivery, pulverized, attrite, in pieces.

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