topple

play

verb top·ple \ˈtä-pəl\

Definition of topple

toppled

;

toppling

play \-p(ə-)liŋ\

intransitive verb
: to fall from or as if from being top-heavy
transitive verb
1 : to cause to topple
2a : overthrow 2 topple a dictatorb : defeat 3

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See topple defined for kids

Examples of topple in a Sentence

The strong winds toppled many trees.
The earthquake toppled the buildings.
The tree toppled into the river.
The rebels tried to topple the dictator.
The phone company has toppled its local competition.

Recent Examples of topple from the Web

Phil Collins, an artist, brought the concrete Engels—in two parts, cut at the waist—from Ukraine, where it had been toppled and dumped along with other Soviet monuments after Russia’s military aggression in 2015.

— The Economist, "Engels returns to Manchester," 20 July 2017
Earlier this month, a woman taking a picture knocked over one piece of art, which prompted an entire row of other pieces to topple like dominoes.

— madison malone kircher, The Cut, "Woman Destroys $200,000 Worth of Art in Pursuit of a Selfie," 14 July 2017
Any slight shimmy may have the whole thing toppling down at any moment!

— sable yong, Allure, "I Want to Look Like a Carefree Rich Girl," 14 July 2017
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, assuming that when a large firm becomes anti-consumer, consumers can topple it.

— travis kavulla, National Review, "Hitting the Refresh Button on Net Neutrality," 13 July 2017
What, short of another parade down Biscayne Boulevard, would make Riley happier than first topping Ainge and then toppling LeBron?

— greg cote, miamiherald, "Pat Riley must first top Danny Ainge for a chance to topple Lebron James," 1 July 2017
The CIA’s role in the coup, which toppled Prime Minister Mohammed Mosaddegh and cemented the control of the shah, was already well-known by the time the State Department offered its first compendium on the era in 1989.

— jon gambrell, The Seattle Times, "US quietly publishes once-expunged papers on 1953 Iran coup," 28 June 2017
But while demonstrators in Ukraine, at the height of their uprising, toppled their government in a matter of days, Venezuelans confront a president who is simply digging in.

— nicholas casey and ana vanessa herrero, New York Times, "After Helicopter Attack, Venezuelans Ask, What Was That About?," 28 June 2017
Authorities said a 10-year-old boy was toppled and killed by a log along the waterfront in Fort Morgan that was blown into him by a huge wave on Wednesday morning.

— howard koplowitz, AL.com, "Alabama Power restoring last outages from Tropical Storm Cindy," 25 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'topple.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.