tumble home I. intransitive verb : to incline inward above the waterline or greatest breadth : fall home — compare batter III; used chiefly of the sides of a ship II. noun : a receding upward slope (as of a ship's sides) : an inclination inward from the greatest breadth < as in all ships of the period, her sides have considerable tumble home — H.G.Smith > < the tumble home of a building toward the top >