to tumble
2
3.4
- verb
- /ˈtʌmbəl/
- Cupboards and the fridge open, and bottles, food, and plates tumble out.
Examples
-
They'd practically tumbled over each other in their race to her bedroom.
-
An unbidden and jumbled cascade of questions began to tumble in her head.
-
And there is a lot more in the closet, just waiting to come tumbling out.
Blog text (29) -
Then, the whole thing tumbled over, and most of its contents came pouring out.
Fiction book (2000) -
I decided to put it all in a kitchen garbage bag (doubled) and tumble it all together.
Blog text (5) -
The backhoe tumbles the pile several times and transfers it to the back of the lot, where it is shaped into 80-foot-long windrows.
Academic text (1995) -
I stood up and a whole heap of napkins, condiments, and Styrofoam plates tumbled to the floor.
Synonyms
167
1.0
To mix a liquid by moving it with a spoon
83
2.7
To make people confused and things messy
78
2.6
Mix eggs quickly while cooking until they become soft and fluffy
51
1.4
To move about in a violent or restless way
51
3.7
To move things or people from one place to another, often repeatedly
44
1.0
Change the order of things so they are random
29
3.3
Mix together so things join and are hard to tell apart
25
3.7
To twist things together so they are hard to pull apart
7
1.9
Mix things up so their order is not clear
6
3.8
Mix things together in a confused way
2
3.4
Mix a few ingredients quickly without much preparation
1
4.5
To make something lose its order or structure
1
4.7
Mix cards so their order becomes random
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
How Mixed
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tumble comes from an old French word tomber meaning 'to fall' or 'turn over', so when you throw things together they 'fall' into a messy pile. That is why to tumble items can mean to mix or toss them into a confused heap.