tumble
verb
[ ˈtʌmb(ə)l ]
• fall suddenly, clumsily, or headlong.
• "she pitched forward, tumbling down the remaining stairs"
Similar:
fall (over),
fall down,
topple over,
lose one's footing,
lose one's balance,
keel over,
pitch over,
take a spill,
collapse,
fall headlong,
fall head over heels,
fall end over end,
trip,
trip up,
stumble,
come a cropper,
measure one's length,
grabble,
• perform acrobatic feats, typically handsprings and somersaults in the air.
• dry (washing) in a tumble dryer.
• "the machine gentle tumbles the clothes in cool air for ten minutes"
• understand the meaning or hidden implication of (a situation).
• "she'll ring again as soon as she tumbles to what she's done"
Similar:
realize,
understand,
grasp,
comprehend,
take in,
apprehend,
perceive,
see,
recognize,
see the light,
latch on to,
cotton on to,
catch on to,
get,
get wise to,
get one's head around,
figure out,
get a fix on,
get the message,
get the picture,
have an aha moment,
twig,
suss,
savvy,
• have sex with.
• "he was tumbling a strange woman"
• clean (castings, gemstones, etc.) in a tumbling barrel.
tumble
noun
• a sudden or headlong fall.
• "I took a tumble in the nettles"
• a handspring, somersault in the air, or other acrobatic feat.
• an act or instance of having sex.
• a friendly sign of recognition, acknowledgement, or interest.
• "not a soul gave him a tumble"
Origin:
Middle English (as a verb, also in the sense ‘dance with contortions’): from Middle Low German tummelen ; compare with Old English tumbian ‘to dance’. The sense was probably influenced by Old French tomber ‘to fall’. The noun, first in the sense ‘tangled mass’, dates from the mid 17th century.
