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Added 9 October 2026

tumble

/ˈtʌmbl̩/ noun

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about tumble at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A fall, especially end over end.
I took a tumble down the stairs and broke my tooth.
A disorderly heap.
An act of sexual intercourse.

verb

To fall end over end; to roll over and over.
To throw headlong.
To perform gymnastics such as somersaults, rolls, and handsprings.

Origin

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-West Germanic *tumbōn, tūmōn, from Proto-Germanic *tumbōną, tūmōną (“to turn, rotate”). Cognate with Middle Dutch tumelen (whence Dutch tuimelen), Middle Low German tumelen, tummelen, German taumeln, Danish tumle, Swedish tumla, tumbla (“to tumble”), Faroese tumla, tumbla (“to walk heavily and noisily, stagger”).

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

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