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Glite Dictionary
🔊 To make noise 🌩️ A deep sound 🥊 A gang fight 🛺 A rear seat
to rumble

to rumble

79 2.5
To make a low, deep, continuous sound
  • verb
  • /ˈrʌmbl/
  • Literature
: retumbar
  • The heavy truck rumbled down the street, shaking the windows as it passed.
  • a rumbling voice

The train of history has been bumpy as it's rumbled through the Middle East.

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Examples

  • So about two hours goes by, I'm sitting at my desk and I felt my tummy rumble in that familiar way.

  • Then the earth beneath began to tremble and shake, and a rumbling sound rose out of its depths.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Supposing the guy in charge Should hear that truck rumble out.

    Hold Your Man (1933)

  • The ground was singing to him, a deep, rumbling sound that he felt through his bones.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • High above them, the heavens rumbled as if with an impending storm.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Old Abe cut the bulldozer to a rumbling throb and waved to the men.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • A formidable clap of thunder rumbled through the sky and vanished, with muffled echoes, in the distance.

    Academic text (2004)

  • Pots flew, plates rattled in the cabinets, the stove rumbled in the corner, pictures slid, clanked, tinkled.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • As the storm approached, we could hear the thunder rumble in the distance.

  • While we were camping, the ground began to rumble as an earthquake hit.

Synonyms

to growl
vsto rumble
187 2.2

To make a low, deep sound to warn or show anger

is similar in depth but lacks aggressive or warning intent
to roar
vsto rumble
124 1.0

To make a loud deep continuous sound like an animal, crowd, or machine

is lower and less forceful, focusing on resonance not loudness
to buzz
vsto rumble
77 1.1

To make a low steady sound like a bee

is deeper and more resonant rather than higher vibrating noise
to hum
vsto rumble
42 1.0

Make a low steady sound like a machine

is louder and deeper with more resonance than that steady sound
to boom
vsto rumble
20 3.4

To make a deep loud sound like thunder or a cannon

is continuous and lower rather than a sudden loud impact
to drone
vsto rumble
14 5.8

To make a long low steady sound

is more purely acoustic and more resonant than monotone sound
to thunder
vsto rumble
14 3.2

To make a loud, strong sound to show anger or give orders

is lower and more continuous rather than sudden loud force
to grumble
vsto rumble
6 3.7

To make a long low sound like distant thunder

is more fully resonant and clearer rather than faint or indistinct
to roll
vsto rumble
5 2.5

To make a long deep sound like thunder or drums

is more low and continuous rather than strongly reverberating
to thrum
vsto rumble
4 8.0

To make a low, steady humming sound

is similar but emphasizes sustained resonance over rhythmic vibration
to boom out
vsto rumble
3 5.7

To make a deep loud sound that can be heard far away

is less about carrying distance and more about low continuous resonance

Antonyms

to whisper
549 1.0

To speak very quietly using only breath so one person can hear

Compounds

tummy rumble
  • Informal
2 4.4

A low sound your stomach makes when you are hungry

rumble seat
  • Archaic
1 9.9

An extra place to sit at the back of an old car that folds and is open to the air

How Loud

to thunder
14 3.2
to roar
124 1.0
to rumble
  • Literature
79 2.5
to hum
42 1.0
murmur
30 4.1

Surface Forms

rumble infinitive
rumbled past
rumbled past participle
rumbling present participle
rumbles third person singular

Etymology

Rumble: As a verb, rumble comes from the sound meaning — to 'rumble' is to make that deep, rolling noise. So when a stomach or an engine 'rumbles' it produces a long, low sound.