to tumble
88
2.9
- verb
- /ˈtʌmbəl/
:
caerse
- She watched her groceries tumble out of the bag and scatter across the sidewalk.
- come tumbling down
- begin to tumble
Which I do, watching the last branch tumble into the pile of clippings below.
- Which I do, watching the last branch tumble into the pile of clippings below.
- Well, we're in a, we're sort of tumbling down a hill at accelerating speed.
- I fell whatever, and I got tumbled by a wave that crashed on me.
- The spit like froth kept tumbling in a kind of cosmic reproach, it seemed.
- And imagine a, a, a piece of paper tumbling in the wind.
- He enjoys playing games, and some of these, he says I run like a charging ram through the halls of stone until I tumble dizzily to the ground.
- It actually tumbles around through space with no specific axis of rotation at all.
Examples
-
The first skydivers tumbled out of the plane and gyrated madly before pulling their ripcord.
Academic text (2011) -
One moment she was in the sun, the next she was tumbling in the wall of water.
Fiction book (1990) -
Soon, the bear would tumble before a rising sun.
-
I had to tumble all the way down a ridge to find it.
-
- Everybody began to tumble, one after the other, like dominoes.
-
And he went tumbling down the stairs.
-
Then, the raft lurched up against the rock, and I tumbled out into the rapid.
Academic text (2003) -
Across the room, the trash can tumbled and the eggshells scattered over the floor.
Fiction book (1990) -
I heard the astonished cries and curses of others, who also began tumbling downward.
Academic text (2002) -
The child lost his balance and began to tumble down the hill.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Move or drop down from a higher to a lower place
∞
1.0
To move across the sky or land with a smooth swaying motion
250
1.0
Suddenly move from a standing position to the ground or a lower level
148
1.8
To move something so it leans or falls to one side
108
3.5
To fall forward or tip onto the ground
93
4.1
To fall over or make something fall over, often suddenly when it loses balance
85
1.4
Lose your balance and drop down from something like a ladder
67
1.0
To lose your balance or stop being steady and end up on the ground
53
5.1
To tilt or fall suddenly, often in a vehicle
30
1.4
To turn your body or an object so the other side faces up
27
3.0
Make something fall from a standing position
16
5.7
Fall down suddenly because you faint or feel very weak
7
5.4
To fall suddenly, for example by tripping or by losing value
2
6.7
Move quickly and without control down a hill or road
1
5.6
To lose balance and almost fall
Antonyms
Idioms
Phrasal Verbs
Compounds
How Violent
Surface Forms
Etymology
Tumble comes from an old French word tomber meaning 'to fall' or 'turn over'. So when something is pushed or slips and rolls away, it 'tumbles'—a sudden fall or roll that often turns over.