- tumble
- [[t]tʌ̱mb(ə)l[/t]]
tumbles, tumbling, tumbled1) VERB If someone or something tumbles somewhere, they fall there with a rolling or bouncing movement.
[V prep/adv] A small boy tumbled off a third floor fire escape...
[V prep/adv] The dog had tumbled down the cliff...
[V prep/adv] He fell to the ground, and the gun tumbled out of his hand.
N-COUNT: usu singTumble is also a noun.He injured his ribs in a tumble from his horse.
2) VERB If prices or levels of something are tumbling, they are decreasing rapidly. [JOURNALISM][V by/from/to amount] House prices have tumbled by almost 30 per cent in real terms since mid-1989...
Share prices continued to tumble today on the Tokyo stock market.
[V-ing] ...tumbling inflation. [Also V amount]
N-COUNT: usu singTumble is also a noun.Oil prices took a tumble yesterday.
3) VERB If water tumbles, it flows quickly over an uneven surface.[V prep] Waterfalls crash and tumble over rocks.
[V-ing] ...the aromatic pines and tumbling streams of the Zonba Plateau. [Also V]
4) VERB If you say that someone tumbles into a situation or place, you mean that they get into it without being fully in control of themselves or knowing what they are doing. [mainly BRIT][V into n] Many mothers and children tumble into poverty after divorce...
[V into n] There's no thought more pleasing than the prospect of tumbling into my apartment and slamming the door.
5) → See also rough and tumblePhrasal Verbs:
English dictionary. 2008.