Adjacent Words

Tumble definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

TUM'BLE, v.i. [L. tumulus, tumultus, tumeo.]
1. To roll; to roll about by turning one way and the other; as, a person in pain tumbles and tosses.
2. To fall; to come down suddenly and violently; as, to tumble from a scaffold.
3. To roll down. The stone of Sisyphus is said to have tumbled to the bottom, as soon as it was carried up the hill.
4. To play mountebank tricks.
TUM'BLE, v.t. To turn over; to turn or throw about for examination or searching; sometimes with over; as, to tumble over books or papers; to tumble over clothes. [To tumble over in thought, is not elegant.]
1. To disturb; to rumple; as, to tumble a bed.
To tumble out, to throw or roll out; as, to tumble out casks from a store.
To tumble down, to throw down carelessly.
TUM'BLE, n. A fall.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end
2: a sudden drop from an upright position; "he had a nasty spill on the ice" [syn: spill, tumble, fall] v
1: fall down, as if collapsing; "The tower of the World Trade Center tumbled after the plane hit it" [syn: tumble, topple]
2: cause to topple or tumble by pushing [syn: topple, tumble, tip]
3: roll over and over, back and forth
4: fly around; "The clothes tumbled in the dryer"; "rising smoke whirled in the air" [syn: whirl, tumble, whirl around]
5: fall apart; "the building crumbled after the explosion"; "Negotiations broke down" [syn: crumble, crumple, tumble, break down, collapse]
6: throw together in a confused mass; "They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern"
7: understand, usually after some initial difficulty; "She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on" [syn: catch on, get wise, get onto, tumble, latch on, cotton on, twig, get it]
8: fall suddenly and sharply; "Prices tumbled after the devaluation of the currency"
9: put clothes in a tumbling barrel, where they are whirled about in hot air, usually with the purpose of drying; "Wash in warm water and tumble dry"
10: suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat
11: do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully

Merriam Webster's

I. verb (tumbled; tumbling) Etymology: Middle English, frequentative of tumben to dance, from Old English tumbian; akin to Old High German t?m?n to reel Date: 14th century intransitive verb 1. a. to fall suddenly and helplessly b. to suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat c. to decline suddenly and sharply (as in price) ; drop <the stock market tumbled> d. to fall into ruin ; collapse 2. a. to perform gymnastic feats in tumbling b. to turn end over end in falling or flight 3. to roll over and over, to and fro, or end over end ; toss 4. to issue forth hurriedly and confusedly 5. to come by chance ; stumble 6. to come to understand ; catch on <didn't tumble to the seriousness of the problem> transitive verb 1. to cause to tumble (as by pushing or toppling) 2. a. to throw together in a confused mass b. rumple, disorder 3. to whirl in a tumbling barrel II. noun Date: 1634 1. a. a disordered mass of objects or material b. a disorderly state 2. an act or instance of tumbling

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & n. --v. 1 intr. & tr. fall or cause to fall suddenly, clumsily, or headlong. 2 intr. fall rapidly in amount etc. (prices tumbled). 3 intr. (often foll. by about, around) roll or toss erratically or helplessly to and fro. 4 intr. move or rush in a headlong or blundering manner (the children tumbled out of the car). 5 intr. (often foll. by to) colloq. grasp the meaning or hidden implication of an idea, circumstance, etc. (they quickly tumbled to our intentions). 6 tr. overturn; fling or push roughly or carelessly. 7 intr. perform acrobatic feats, esp. somersaults. 8 tr. rumple or disarrange; pull about; disorder. 9 tr. dry (washing) in a tumble-drier. 10 tr. clean (castings, gemstones, etc.) in a tumbling-barrel. 11 intr. (of a pigeon) turn over backwards in flight. --n. 1 a sudden or headlong fall. 2 a somersault or other acrobatic feat. 3 an untidy or confused state. Phrases and idioms: tumble-drier n. a machine for drying washing in a heated rotating drum. tumble-dry v.tr. & intr. (-dries, -dried) dry in a tumble-drier. tumbling-barrel (or -box etc.) a revolving device containing an abrasive substance, in which castings, gemstones, etc., are cleaned by friction. tumbling-bay 1 the outfall of a river, reservoir, etc. 2 a pool into which this flows. Etymology: ME tumbel f. MLG tummelen, OHG tumalon frequent. of tumon: cf. OE tumbian dance

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tumble Tum"ble, n. Act of tumbling, or rolling over; a fall.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tumble Tum"ble, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Tumbled; p. pr. & vb. n. Tumbling.] [OE. tumblen, AS. tumbian to turn heels over head, to dance violently; akin to D. tuimelen to fall, Sw. tumla, Dan. tumle, Icel. tumba; and cf. G. taumeln to reel, to stagger.] 1. To roll over, or to and fro; to throw one's self about; as, a person on pain tumbles and tosses. 2. To roll down; to fall suddenly and violently; to be precipitated; as, to tumble from a scaffold. He who tumbles from a tower surely has a greater blow than he who slides from a molehill. --South. 3. To play tricks by various movements and contortions of the body; to perform the feats of an acrobat. --Rowe. To tumble home (Naut.), to incline inward, as the sides of a vessel, above the bends or extreme breadth; -- used esp. in the phrase tumbling home. Cf. Wall-sided.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tumble Tum"ble, v. t. 1. To turn over; to turn or throw about, as for examination or search; to roll or move in a rough, coarse, or unceremonious manner; to throw down or headlong; to precipitate; -- sometimes with over, about, etc.; as, to tumble books or papers. 2. To disturb; to rumple; as, to tumble a bed.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(tumbles, tumbling, tumbled) 1. If someone or something tumbles somewhere, they fall there with a rolling or bouncing movement. A small boy tumbled off a third floor fire escape... He fell to the ground, and the gun tumbled out of his hand. VERB: V prep/adv, V prep/adv • Tumble is also a noun. He injured his ribs in a tumble from his horse. N-COUNT: usu sing 2. If prices or levels of something are tumbling, they are decreasing rapidly. (JOURNALISM) House prices have tumbled by almost 30 per cent in real terms since mid-1989... Share prices continued to tumble today on the Tokyo stock market. ...tumbling inflation. VERB: V by/from/to amount, V, V-ing • Tumble is also a noun. Oil prices took a tumble yesterday. N-COUNT: usu sing 3. If water tumbles, it flows quickly over an uneven surface. Waterfalls crash and tumble over rocks. ...the aromatic pines and tumbling streams of the Zonba Plateau. VERB: V prep, V-ing 4. If you say that someone tumbles into a situation or place, you mean that they get into it without being fully in control of themselves or knowing what they are doing. (mainly BRIT) Many mothers and children tumble into poverty after divorce... VERB: V into n 5. see also rough and tumble

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Roll, toss, heave, pitch about. 2. Fall, be precipitated, fall over, roll down, fall suddenly, topple. 3. Play mountebank tricks. II. v. a. 1. Precipitate, throw headlong. 2. Turn over, throw about. 3. Disturb, derange, rumple, put in disorder, disorder, disarrange. III. n. Fall.

Moby Thesaurus

alight upon, apprehend, arsy-varsiness, ball up, bite the dust, blow down, blow over, blunder, blunder upon, blur, blur distinctions, bollix up, bow, bowl down, bowl over, break up, breakdown, bring down, bulldog, bump into, capsize, careen, career, cast down, catch on, chance upon, chop down, clutter, collapse, come a cropper, come across, come down, come on, come up against, come upon, comedown, comprehend, confound, confuse, crash, cropper, crumble, crumble to dust, culbute, cut down, dash down, deck, deflation, descend, dig, discover serendipitously, disintegrate, dive, down, downfall, drop, dump, encounter, fall, fall down, fall flat, fall headlong, fall in with, fall over, fall prostrate, fall to pieces, falter, farrago, fell, fetch down, fidget, flip out, floor, flop, flounce, flounder, flutter, forced landing, foul up, freak out on, fumble, garble, get a cropper, get high on, glow, go down, go pitapat, go to pieces, go under, ground, grovel, happen upon, hash, have enough, have the fidgets, have the shakes, header, heave, helter-skelter, hew down, higgledy-piggledy, hit upon, hobbyhorse, hodgepodge, hysteron proteron, jerk, jumble, jumble together, keel over, knock down, labor, lay level, lay low, lay out, level, lick the dust, light upon, list, litter, lose, lose out, lose the day, lurch, make heavy weather, mash, meet up with, meet with, mess, mishmash, mix, mix up, mow down, muck up, muddle, nose dive, overlook distinctions, palpitate, pant, perceive, pi, pitch, pitch and plunge, pitch and toss, play hob with, plunge, pound, pratfall, precipitate, prostrate, pull down, quake, quaver, quiver, rase, raze, rear, reel, riffle, rock, roll, rummage, run across, run into, run up against, say uncle, scend, scramble, screw up, see the light, seethe, send headlong, shake, shiver, shuffle, slip, slump, smash, snafu, snarl up, spill, sprawl, spread-eagle, squirm, stagger, struggle, stumble, stumble on, stumble upon, succumb, supinate, sway, swell, swell with emotion, swing, tailspin, take a fall, take a flop, take a header, take a pratfall, take a spill, take down, take the count, thrash about, thrill, thrill to, throb, throw, throw down, tilt, tingle, tingle with excitement, topple, topple down, topple over, topsy-turviness, topsy-turvydom, toss, toss and tumble, toss and turn, totter, tremble, trip, tumble on, tumble to, turmoil, turn on to, turn turtle, twist and turn, twitch, twitter, understand, unholy mess, upset, volutation, wallop, wallow, welter, whack down, wiggle, wise up, wriggle, writhe, yaw