tumble
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To fall end over end.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
tuhmbuhlSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈtʌmbəl
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitive
To fall end over end; to roll over and over.
intransitive
To move or rush in a headlong or uncontrolled way.
Fall apart
intransitive
To perform gymnastics such as somersaults, rolls, and handsprings.
Throw together in a confused mass
“They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern.”
To muss, to make disorderly; to tousle or rumple.
noun
An acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end
A fall, especially end over end.
A disorderly heap.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To fall end over end; to roll over and over.
Used this way, tumble is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use tumble
- “They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern.”verb
- “The tower of the World Trade Center tumbled after the plane hit it.”verb
- “Prices tumbled after the devaluation of the currency.”verb
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The gymnastic moves of an acrobat.
A gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
North American grass with slender brushy panicles.
Pigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground.
Dry by spinning with hot air inside a cylinder.
A clothes dryer that spins wet clothes inside a cylinder with heated air.
A clothes dryer that spins wet clothes inside a cylinder with heated air.
A flat metal tumbler in a lever lock.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.