tumble
verb /ˈtʌmbl/
/ˈtʌmbl/
Verb Forms
Phrasal Verbs| present simple I / you / we / they tumble | /ˈtʌmbl/ /ˈtʌmbl/ |
| he / she / it tumbles | /ˈtʌmblz/ /ˈtʌmblz/ |
| past simple tumbled | /ˈtʌmbld/ /ˈtʌmbld/ |
| past participle tumbled | /ˈtʌmbld/ /ˈtʌmbld/ |
| -ing form tumbling | /ˈtʌmblɪŋ/ /ˈtʌmblɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] tumble (somebody/something) + adv./prep. to fall downwards, often hitting the ground several times, but usually without serious injury; to make somebody/something fall in this way
- He slipped and tumbled down the stairs.
- We tumbled down into the hole.
- [intransitive] tumble (down) to fall suddenly and in a dramatic way
- The scaffolding came tumbling down.
- (figurative) World records tumbled at the last Olympics.
- [intransitive] to fall rapidly in value or amount
- The price of oil is still tumbling.
Extra Examples- Profits have tumbled from £15 billion to just £3 billion.
- The news sent shares tumbling.
- [intransitive] + adv./prep. to move or fall somewhere in a relaxed or noisy way, or with a lack of control
- I undressed and tumbled into bed.
- A group of noisy children tumbled out of the bus.
- The water tumbled over the rocks.
- Thick golden curls tumbled down over her shoulders.
- (figurative) Her words came tumbling out.
- She tumbled through the front door and collapsed in a heap.
- [intransitive] to perform acrobatics on the floor, especially somersaults (= a jump in which you turn over completely in the air)
- a tumbling troupe
Word OriginMiddle English (as a verb, also in the sense ‘dance with contortions’): from Middle Low German tummelen; compare with Old English tumbian ‘to dance’. The sense was probably influenced by Old French tomber ‘to fall’. The noun, first in the sense ‘tangled mass’, dates from the mid 17th cent.