To make a crunching sound, or to crunch; sometimes used to describe the sound of artillery shells exploding.
Imitative origin—the word mimics the sound it describes. Used extensively in World War I contexts to describe the sound of shells landing and exploding.
Soldiers in WWI created 'crump' to describe the specific, horrible sound of incoming shells—an onomatopoeia born from the trenches that captured what they experienced.
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