tumble
Other forms: tumbled; tumbles
When you tumble, you fall abruptly. You might trip over your shoelaces and tumble down a hill while flying a kite if you're not careful.
To suddenly topple over or trip and fall to the ground is to tumble. Toddlers often tumble in sandboxes, while running on sidewalks, or as they climb down stairs. There's another way to tumble that is more deliberate: the form of gymnastics that involves roundoffs and back handsprings is called tumbling, and if you're able to do these tricks, you can tumble. The root is believed to be the Old English tumbian, "to dance about."
Definitions of tumble
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fall down, as if collapsing
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cause to topple or tumble by pushing
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fall apart
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synonyms:
break down, collapse, crumble, crumple
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type of:
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change integrity
change in physical make-up
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change integrity
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fall suddenly and sharply“Prices tumbled after the devaluation of the currency”
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type of:
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drop
go down in value
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drop
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suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat
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throw together in a confused mass“They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern”
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type of:
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jumble, scramble, throw together
bring into random order
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jumble, scramble, throw together
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a sudden drop from an upright position
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fly around“The clothes tumbled in the dryer”
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synonyms:
whirl, whirl around
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type of:
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move
move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion
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move
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roll over and over, back and forth
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type of:
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roll over
make a rolling motion or turn
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roll over
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put clothes in a tumbling barrel, where they are whirled about in hot air, usually with the purpose of drying“Wash in warm water and tumble dry”
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type of:
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toss
agitate
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toss
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do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully
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an acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end
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types:
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flip, somersault, somersaulting, somerset, summersault, summerset
an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head (either forward or backward) and return
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flip-flop
a backward somersault
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type of:
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acrobatic feat, acrobatic stunt
a stunt performed by an acrobat
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flip, somersault, somersaulting, somerset, summersault, summerset
-
understand, usually after some initial difficulty
Pronunciation
US
/ˈtəmbəl/
UK
/ˈtəmbəl/
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