I. ˈtəmbəl verb
( tumbled ; tumbled ; tumbling -b(ə)liŋ ; tumbles )
Etymology: Middle English tumblen, freq. of tumben, tomben to dance, jump, from Old English tumbian; akin to Middle High German tūmeln to turn, reel, Old High German tūmōn to turn, reel, Old Norse tumba to tumble
intransitive verb
1.
a. : to perform gymnastic feats of rolling and turning
a man … paid for tumbling upon his hands — Samuel Johnson
to keep in shape, the … general tumbles — Time
b. : to turn end over end in falling or in flight
rooks tumbling and cawing above the high elm tops — Flora Thompson
a projectile tumbles when the twist of the rifling is too slow for the bullet
machine-gun bullets, badly tumbling, fell in among the ridges — S.L.A.Marshall
2.
a. : to fall suddenly and helplessly : pitch headlong : fall to the ground
tumble from a scaffold
tripped over a stone and tumbled
one … whose horse has tumbled — G.B.Shaw
b. : to suffer a usually sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat
once again a government tumbles
the small tumble with the great — Arnold Bennett
c. : to decline suddenly and sharply (as in price or value) : drop
the stock market tumbled — N.Y.Times
d. : to fall into ruin or decay : break down : collapse
the wall finally tumbled
deserted buildings … tumbling into ruins — American Guide Series: Nevada
— often used with down
old houses tumbling down
the structure of society does not tumble down when we probe its framework — Zechariah Chafee
3. : to roll over and over, back and forth, or around : thrash about : twist and turn : toss
tumbled in her sleep
his children tumbled like brown puppies about his threshold — Pearl Buck
laughed all day together tumbling in the hay — George Meredith
thoughts were tumbling about in her brain like cargo loose in a rolling ship — Arnold Bennett
4.
a. : to fall or issue forth hurriedly, confusedly, and all in a heap : pour out pell-mell
books tumbling from the presses
gold coins tumbled out on the counterpane — T.B.Costain
words tumbling eagerly from his lips
b. : to move in a stumblingly hurried, confused, or disorderly way : rush helter-skelter
tumbled into his clothes
customers tumbling out of the tavern as the fire trucks arrived
5. : to come by chance or unexpectedly : stumble , happen
treated his wife and children as the most delightful accidents against whom he had, most happily, tumbled — Hugh Walpole
— usually used with in, into, or upon
the individuality you always tumbled upon in an English … village — H.J.Laski
6. : to have a receding upward slope — compare tumble home
7. : to come to understand the point or implication (as of something obscure or devious that is being said or done) : catch on : wise up
nobody tumbles till we're dragging the damned aristocrats out of their cursed beds — W.G.Hardy
— usually used with to
suspicious for some time … and all of a sudden I tumbled to it — W.S.Maugham
advertisers … had not tumbled to the extensive possibilities for fakery in photography — Andy Logan
transitive verb
1.
a. : to cause to tumble or roll head over heels : make fall : throw down or over : pitch , toss
tumbled him on the bed
b. : to bring down (as in hunting) : drop
tumble a rabbit with a shotgun
c. : to cause to fall from high place or power : topple
had reached a pinnacle … and now he was tumbled from it — Winifred Bambrick
d. : to cause to fall to the ground : knock down : fell
tumbled a policeman — Richard Free
tumbled the trees — V.W. Von Hagen
2. : to cause to fall into ruins : demolish
tumbles down steeples — Shakespeare
tumbling the majestic house of worship — Claudia Cassidy
3.
a. : to throw together in a confused and disorderly way : fling about or in a heap
tumbled them helter-skelter into the boxes — Elinor Wylie
hills lie tumbled about in a sort of mad confusion — Tom Marvel
b. : to push or roll about : cause to pitch or stumble : bundle , toss
tumbled about like a football — Tobias Smollett
tumbling him into the position at short notice
c. : to put into a state of disorder or disarray : rumple , dishevel
tumble bedclothes
one gets so tumbled in such a crowd — Jane Austen
d. archaic : to turn over or throw about (as in a hasty search or examination)
walked through the library and tumbled books — Lord Byron
e. : to turn (as a sheet printed on one side that is to be backed up by the same form) from top to bottom
4. : to whirl (objects or material) in a tumbling barrel (as in polishing or coating metallic objects, softening leather, or drying clothes)
•
- tumble to
- tumble up
II. noun
( -s )
1.
a. : a random and disorderly collection : a mass of objects or material piled up or thrown together in confusion : heap
a tumble of books and papers on the floor
could look out … at the tumble of lesser hills and valleys, dotted here and there with towns and settlements — R.M.Coates
b. New England : a small pile of hay in a field
c. : a confused, disorderly state or condition : disarray , mess
viewed the tumble of the bed
cut through the tumble of wordy, circular arguments
2. : an act of tumbling or falling: as
a. : a gymnastic or acrobatic feat of tumbling (as a somersault)
practice a tumble
b. : an accidental fall
take a tumble
injured in a tumble from a horse
no ability to pick herself up after a tumble — F.A.Swinnerton
— compare rough-and-tumble
c. : a usually sudden descent from a higher level or position : downfall , drop
the premier's tumble from office
a tumble in stock market prices
a tumble from high estate
d. : a rolling, tossing, and falling movement (as of a watercourse)
the tumble of the waves
the … river does a series of tumbles over rocky ledges — Y.E.Soderberg
3. : tumbling barrel
4. : a sign of recognition or interest ; especially : an indication of responsive social or amatory interest
you wouldn't even give me a tumble — Dorothy Parker