tumble

Language: en

🇬🇧 /ˈtʌmbəl/ 🇺🇸 /ˈtʌmbəl/

📖 Definitions

  1. verb
    To fall suddenly and clumsily, often rolling or bouncing along the ground.; To roll or turn over and over, as in gymnastics or acrobatics.; To fall or drop rapidly in value, price, or amount.; To cause to fall or roll over; to throw down.; To move or rush in a confused or disorderly manner.; To toss or mix clothes in a rotating drum, as in a dryer.; To polish or smooth stones, gems, or metal parts by rotating them in a drum with abrasive material.; To understand or realize something suddenly (informal, often used with 'to').; To perform acrobatic feats such as somersaults and handsprings.; To collapse or fall into ruin.
  2. noun
    A sudden fall or drop, especially one involving rolling or bouncing.; A confused or disorderly mass or heap.; A rapid decline or drop in value or amount.; An act of acrobatic tumbling; a series of rolls or flips.; A glass used for drinking, typically with a flat bottom and no stem or handle.

🔗 Details

Word forms

countable Plural: tumbles 3rd sing.: tumbles Past: tumbled Past part.: tumbled Pres part.: tumbling

Collocations

take a tumbletumble downtumble dryertumble drycome tumbling downtumble into

Derivatives

tumblertumblingtumbledowntumbleweedtumbled

Synonyms

falldropplungestumblecollapsepitch

Antonyms

riseascendclimb

Commonly confused

stumble
EN: 'Stumble' means to trip or lose balance momentarily, while 'tumble' implies a more complete fall or rolling motion.
tumbler
EN: 'Tumbler' is a derivative noun meaning a drinking glass or an acrobat, not a verb form of 'tumble'.

Spelling tips

EN: No common spelling issues. Note that 'tumble' becomes 'tumbled' and 'tumbling' (the final 'e' is dropped before '-ing').

💬 Examples

  1. The child tumbled down the stairs and scraped his knee.

  2. The gymnast tumbled across the mat with perfect form.

  3. Stock prices tumbled after the unexpected earnings report.

  4. The strong wind tumbled the old fence to the ground.

  5. The children tumbled out of the school bus.

  6. She tumbled the laundry in the dryer for thirty minutes.

  7. He tumbled the rough stones for several weeks until they became smooth and shiny.

  8. It took me a while, but I finally tumbled to what he was really after.

  9. The circus performers tumbled and flipped high above the audience.

  10. The ancient wall tumbled after centuries of neglect.