tumble

verb

tum·ble | \ˈtəm-bəl

tumbled; tumbling\ˈtəm-b(ə-)liŋ

Definition of tumble

(Entry 1 of 2)

intransitive verb

1a : to fall suddenly and helplessly

b : to suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat

c : to decline suddenly and sharply (as in price) : drop the stock market tumbled

d : to fall into ruin : collapse

2a : to perform gymnastic feats in tumbling

b : to turn end over end in falling or flight

3 : to roll over and over, to and fro, or end over end : toss

4 : to issue forth hurriedly and confusedly

5 : to come by chance : stumble

6 : to come to understand : catch on didn't tumble to the seriousness of the problem

transitive verb

1 : to cause to tumble (as by pushing or toppling)

2a : to throw together in a confused mass

b : rumple, disorder

3 : to whirl in a tumbling barrel

tumble

noun

Definition of tumble (Entry 2 of 2)

1a : a disordered mass of objects or material

b : a disorderly state

2 : an act or instance of tumbling

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about tumble

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Examples of tumble in a Sentence

Verb

He tripped and tumbled to the ground. The statue came tumbling down during the riots. The satellite was tumbling out of control. She slipped and tumbled down the hill. Everyone came tumbling out of the bar at closing time. He tumbled into bed and fell asleep. Water tumbled over the rocks.

Noun

cleaned a crazy tumble of buttons, hair bands, loose change, and old candy wrappers out from the couch cushions took a little tumble on the ice

Recent Examples on the Web: Verb

Move It Fridays Every Friday: Play for better health yoga, balance, dance, tumbling and more for toddlers. 11:30 a.m.-noon. — Mary Lou Cruz, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Davie area events July 18-28," 14 July 2018 The Shanghai Composite index tumbled 2.3 percent to 2,761.90. — Washington Post, "Stocks tumble as Asia braces for more US tariffs on China," 11 July 2018 Soybeans on the Chicago Board of Trade tumbled 14 percent last month due to the escalating trade tensions. — Bloomberg, Time, "This American Cargo Ship Is Racing to China to Beat a Huge New Tariff on the Soybeans it's Carrying," 5 July 2018 Shares of Walgreens and Rite Aid tumbled more than 9 percent, while CVS Health dropped 6.6 percent. — New York Times, "Amazon to Buy Online Pharmacy PillPack, Jumping Into the Drug Business," 28 June 2018 Permits to build tumbled 4.6 percent in May, but permits are running 8.9 percent higher year-to-date. — Josh Boak, USA TODAY, "US housing starts jumped 5 percent in May off pop in Midwest building," 19 June 2018 Sales at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer's health, tumbled 11.9 percent. — Houston Chronicle, "Sears to close another 72 stores as sales plunge," 31 May 2018 The blue-chip index tumbled 1.5 percent Thursday to slip below its 200-day moving average. — Lu Wang, Bloomberg.com, "Dow's Best Technical Run in 30 Years Is in Jeopardy," 3 May 2018 But that was still notably better than what has happened in the U.S.: Auto sales tumbled about 5 percent last year to just over 17 million, marking the first downturn since the U.S. emerged from the Great Recession. — NBC News, "President Xi's pledge to lower tariffs is just one of many obstacles for U.S. carmakers," 11 Apr. 2018

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun

For your pho fix, hit the rough-and-tumble Phở Gia Truyền, where a giant cauldron of beef broth simmers up front. — Peter Jon Lindberg, Condé Nast Traveler, "Hanoi, Time and Again," 20 Nov. 2018 But for now, and despite occasional poaching, sanctioned shooting and rough-and-tumble human politics, the wolves were doing pretty well. — New York Times, "Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf Scientist?," 5 July 2018 Almost all the big outsourcers have seen their share price tumble in the past year, with a spate of profit warnings. — The Economist, "Britain’s outsourcing model, copied around the world, is in trouble," 28 June 2018 Still, some Democrats seem to think rough-and-tumble can work. — Callum Borchers, Washington Post, "‘It’s vile’: Chelsea Clinton rips tweet by former top aide to Hillary Clinton," 9 May 2018 The theory is that Harden is too reliant on drawing fouls that are called in the regular season but ignored in the more rough-and-tumble playoffs. — Matt Young, Houston Chronicle, "Mythbusting the #PlayoffHarden fallacy about Rockets star," 1 May 2018 Two good rough-and-tumble tavernas are Kodylenia and Xeri Elia; a third, Papagalos, mixes terrific cocktails and has views of the harbor. — Alexander Lobrano, Town & Country, "The Ultimate Travel Guide to Mykonos, Hydra, and Santorini," 5 June 2017 During a concert in Pendleton, Oregon, Blake Shelton took a tumble. — Temi Adebowale, Country Living, "Blake Shelton Falls on Stage at a Concert, Later Jokes He’d Been ‘Drinking a Lot’," 16 July 2018 In the video, Shelton can be seen tripping over something on stage before taking a tumble. — Sasha Savitsky, Fox News, "Blake Shelton admits to drinking 'a lot' after falling on stage," 16 July 2018

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