TUMBLE

Pronunciation (US):

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tumble mean? 

• TUMBLE (noun)
  The noun TUMBLE has 2 senses:

1. an acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end

2. a sudden drop from an upright position

  Familiarity information: TUMBLE used as a noun is rare.

• TUMBLE (verb)
  The verb TUMBLE has 11 senses:

1. fall down, as if collapsing

2. cause to topple or tumble by pushing

3. roll over and over, back and forth

4. fly around

5. fall apart

6. throw together in a confused mass

7. understand, usually after some initial difficulty

8. fall suddenly and sharply

9. put clothes in a tumbling barrel, where they are whirled about in hot air, usually with the purpose of drying

10. suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat

11. do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully

  Familiarity information: TUMBLE used as a verb is familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TUMBLE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("tumble" is a kind of...):

acrobatic feat; acrobatic stunt (a stunt performed by an acrobat)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumble"):

flip; somersault; somersaulting; somerset; summersault; summerset (an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head (either forward or backward) and return)

Derivation:

tumble (do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A sudden drop from an upright position

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

fall; spill; tumble

Context example:

he had a nasty spill on the ice

Hypernyms ("tumble" is a kind of...):

slip; trip (an accidental misstep threatening (or causing) a fall)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumble"):

pratfall (a fall onto your buttocks)

wipeout (a spill in some sport (as a fall from a bicycle or while skiing or being capsized on a surfboard))

Derivation:

tumble (fall suddenly and sharply)

tumble (fall down, as if collapsing)

tumble (cause to topple or tumble by pushing)

• TUMBLE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they tumble    ... he / she / it tumbles   
Past simple: tumbled   
Past participle: tumbled   
-ing form: tumbling   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Fall down, as if collapsing

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

topple; tumble

Context example:

The tower of the World Trade Center tumbled after the plane hit it

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

come down; descend; fall; go down (move downward and lower, but not necessarily all the way)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tumble"):

keel over (turn over and fall)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

tumble (a sudden drop from an upright position)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Cause to topple or tumble by pushing

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

tip; topple; tumble

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

force; push (move with force)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

tumble (a sudden drop from an upright position)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Roll over and over, back and forth

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

roll over (make a rolling motion or turn)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

tumbler (pigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground)

tumbler (a movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Fly around

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

tumble; whirl; whirl around

Context example:

rising smoke whirled in the air

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something is ----ing PP

Sense 5

Meaning:

Fall apart

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

break down; collapse; crumble; crumple; tumble

Context example:

Negotiations broke down

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

change integrity (change in physical make-up)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 6

Meaning:

Throw together in a confused mass

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

jumble; scramble; throw together (bring into random order)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 7

Meaning:

Understand, usually after some initial difficulty

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

catch on; cotton on; get it; get onto; get wise; latch on; tumble; twig

Context example:

She didn't know what her classmates were plotting but finally caught on

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

apprehend; compass; comprehend; dig; get the picture; grasp; grok; savvy (get the meaning of something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 8

Meaning:

Fall suddenly and sharply

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Prices tumbled after the devaluation of the currency

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

drop (go down in value)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sentence example:

The stock market is going to tumble

Derivation:

tumble (a sudden drop from an upright position)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Put clothes in a tumbling barrel, where they are whirled about in hot air, usually with the purpose of drying

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Wash in warm water and tumble dry

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

toss (agitate)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 10

Meaning:

Suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 11

Meaning:

Do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Hypernyms (to "tumble" is one way to...):

exercise; work out (do physical exercise)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "tumble"):

roll (execute a roll, in tumbling)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

tumble (an acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end)

tumbler (a gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.)

tumbling (the gymnastic moves of an acrobat)

 Context examples 

I tumble down before I get to the old place, at a point where I was all right before, and stop to think.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I never saw anyone faint, and I don't choose to make myself all black and blue, tumbling flat as you do.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

He met her next rush with his chest, in a peculiar fashion that tumbled her off her feet.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

But I saw, not the deck, but where the deck should have been, for it was buried beneath a wild tumbling of water.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“My dear, you tumble my gown,” was Mrs. Allen's reply.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

By this time, tumbling things in as they came, we had the jolly-boat loaded as much as we dared.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

Amid the crash and glitter of the falling glass, he tumbled into the flagged area below.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

It would make them sometimes hug, and sometimes tear one another; they would howl, and grin, and chatter, and reel, and tumble, and then fall asleep in the mud.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

Mixing of dry ingredients by repetitive tumbling.

(Dry Powder Diffusion Mixing, NCI Thesaurus)

When midnight came, an uproar and noise of tumbling about was heard; at first it was low, but it grew louder and louder.

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)