Etymology

From Middle English tumblen (“to fall over and over again, tumble”),
frequentative of Middle English tumben (“to fall, leap, dance”), from
Old English tumbian, from Proto-Germanic *tūmōną (“to turn, rotate”).
Cognate with Middle Dutch tumelen (whence Dutch tuimelen); Middle
Low German tumelen, tummelen; and German taumeln.

Pronunciation
enPR: tŭmʹbəl, IPA(key): /ˈtʌmbl̩ /
Audio (US)
0:01
Rhymes: -ʌmbəl
Hyphenation: tum‧ble
Noun
tumble (plural tumbles)

A fall, especially end over end.

I took a tumble down the stairs and broke my tooth.
A disorderly heap.
(informal) An act of sexual intercourse.
Derived terms
Derived terms
Translations
±a fall
Verb
tumble (third-person singular simple present tumbles, present participle
tumbling, simple past and past participle tumbled)

(intransitive) To fall end over end; to roll over and over.

(intransitive) To perform gymnastics such as somersaults, rolls, and
handsprings.
(intransitive) To drop rapidly.
Share prices tumbled after the revelation about the company's impending
failure.
(transitive) To smoothe and polish, e.g., gemstones or pebbles, by means
of a rotating tumbler.
(intransitive, informal) To have sexual intercourse.
(intransitive) To move or rush in a headlong or uncontrolled way.
To muss, to make disorderly; to tousle or rumple.
to tumble a bed
(cryptocurrencies) To obscure the audit trail of funds by means of a
tumbler.
(obsolete, UK, slang) To comprehend; often in tumble to.
Synonyms
(to have sexual intercourse): bump uglies, have sex, roll around; see also
Thesaurus:copulate
(to make disorderly): mess up, touse
Derived terms
tumble on
tumble to