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Verb: tumble  túm-bul
  1. Fall down, as if collapsing
    "The tower of the World Trade Center tumbled after the plane hit it";
    - topple
     
  2. Fall suddenly and sharply
    "Prices tumbled after the devaluation of the currency"
     
  3. Cause to topple or tumble by pushing
    - topple, tip
     
  4. Roll over and over, back and forth
     
  5. Move in an irregular circular pattern
    "The clothes tumbled in the dryer";
    - whirl, whirl around
     
  6. Fall apart
    "the building tumbled after the explosion";
    - crumble, crumple, break down, collapse
     
  7. Throw together in a confused mass
    "They tumbled the teams with no apparent pattern"
     
  8. [informal] Understand or realize, usually after some time or initial difficulty
    - catch on [informal], get wise [informal], get onto, latch on [informal], cotton on [informal], twig [Brit, informal], get it, cop on [Brit, informal]
     
  9. Put clothes in a tumbling barrel, where they are whirled about in hot air, usually with the purpose of drying
    "Wash in warm water and tumble dry"
     
  10. Suffer a sudden downfall, overthrow, or defeat
     
  11. Do gymnastics, roll and turn skilfully
Noun: tumble  túm-bul
  1. An acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end
     
  2. A sudden drop from an upright position
    "he had a nasty tumble on the ice";
    - spill, fall

Derived forms: tumbles, tumbling, tumbled

Type of: acrobatic feat, acrobatic stunt, apprehend, change integrity, come down, compass, comprehend, decline, descend, dig [informal], drop, exercise, fall, force, get the picture, go down, grasp, grok [N. Amer, informal], jumble, move, push, roll over, savvy, scramble, sink, slip, throw together, toss, trip, work out, worsen

Encyclopedia: Tumble, Carmarthenshire