▪ I. tumble, n.
(ˈtʌmb(ə)l)
[f. next.]
An act of tumbling; the condition of being tumbled.
1. An act of acrobatic tumbling; an acrobatic feat. rare.
| 1824 Landor Imag. Conv., Gen. Lascy & Curate Merino II. 75 A tumble of heels over head, a feat performed by beggar-boys on the roads. 1825 J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. ii. 28 A few hearty tumbles, all alone. |
2. a. An accidental fall; also, the falling of a stream.
| 1716 Lady M. W. Montagu Let. to C'tess Mar 21 Nov., In case of a tumble, it was utterly impossible to come alive to the bottom. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones xii. viii, The landlord..became perfectly well acquainted with the tumble of Sophia from her horse. 1860 Tyndall Glac. i. xvi. 116 The end..was always a plunge and tumble in the deeper snow. 1871 R. Ellis Catullus lxviii. 60 As hill-born brook..O'er his moss-grown crags leaps with a tumble a-down. 1880 I. L. Bird Japan I. 101 Mountains..noisy with the dash and tumble of a thousand streams. |
b. fig. A fall, downfall.
| 1728 Vanbr. & Cib. Prov. Husb. ii. i, The Demoivre Baronet had a bloody Tumble [at cards]. 1765 G. Williams in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1843) I. 404 Pembroke gave him such a tumble the other night, by telling him Mr. Pitt would no more trust him than his postilion, that [etc.]. 1833 T. Hook Parson's Dau. iii. x, Our unlooked-for tumble [from high estate]. 1886 Pall Mall G. 8 Oct. 11/2 There will be a terrible tumble in the price of American oil in Europe. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xxvi, Here were all my dreams come to a sad tumble. |
c. In phrase rough-and-tumble, q.v.
d. to take a tumble (to oneself): to realize the facts of one's situation; to wake up to something, to tumble. slang (orig. U.S.).
| 1877 [see on to, onto prep. 2]. 1928 F. Hurst President is Born xiv. 182 An iron negro boy, with a hitching ring in his fist, stood..at the curb... Once, some town⁓wag..had hung a pasteboard tag about his neck, ‘Take a tumble to yourself, Joe.’ 1944 Living off Land v. 106 At one goldfield where malaria broke out virulently no one took a tumble why for a long time. 1949 J. R. Cole It was so Late 65 The woman, taking a tumble to our set up, gave me the come on. 1959 M. Gee in C. K. Stead N.Z. Short Stories (1966) 267 After a while I give up, and I take a tumble to what's happening. I'm getting the bum's rush. 1973 ‘J. Patrick’ Glasgow Gang Observed viii. 79 Ma wee brother will learn sense; he'll take a tumble tae hissel'. |
e. A sign of recognition or acknowledgement, a response; chiefly in phr. to give a tumble. U.S. slang.
| 1921 H. C. Witwer Leather Pushers xi. 282 Neither of 'em give him a tumble. 1934 J. O'Hara Appointment in Samarra (1935) vii. 208, I went in his office and started kidding around... I noticed I wasn't getting a tumble from him, so I finally broke down and asked him, I said what was the matter. 1935 D. Runyon in Cosmopolitan Jan. 160/3 He never lets on he knows me, and naturally I do not give Mr. Labez any tumble whatever. 1953 N.Y. Times Book Rev. 8 Feb. 17 If the right boy won't give you [sc. a girl] a tumble, you've got a problem. 1976 Washington Post 19 Apr. c3/6 Der Bingle took a subway ride in New York over the weekend and not a soul gave him a tumble. Bing Crosby said he knew what it meant to be just another straphanger. |
3. Tumbled condition; disorder, confusion, disturbance; a confused or tangled heap.
| 1634 Jackson Creed vii. xxxii. §4 Some authority in all this tumble did still remain in the tribe of Judah. 1641 Laud Wks. (1853) VI. 88 After much tumble, a major part of the votes made choice of me. 1755 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) III. 129, I could not expect that any drawing could give a full idea of the..masterly tumble of the feathers [of Walpole's eagle]. 1762–71 ― Vertue's Anecd. Paint. (1786) I. x. 138 Rubens was never greater than in landscape; the tumble of his rocks and trees [etc.] show a variety of genius. 1869 Blackmore Lorna D. xxxi, Glad..that his story might get out of the tumble which all our talk had made in it. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 21 Mar. 5/1 The moorhen..swimming out from the overhanging tumble of bush and bramble. |
4. slang. An act of sexual intercourse; a woman giving opportunity for this; chiefly in phr. to give (or get) a tumble.
| 1903 Farmer & Henley Slang VII. 224/2 To do a tumble (of women) = to lie down to a man. 1934 H. Miller Tropic of Cancer 297 She's a big, healthy bitch... I wouldn't mind giving her a tumble. 1954 J. Trench Dishonoured Bones iii. 110 He was..giving la Vitrey a tumble somewhere. 1970 ‘J. & E. Bonett’ Sound of Murder xiii. 172 Most men think that a woman who has been loved by a married man is an easy tumble. 1976 P. Cave High Flying Birds iii. 45 ‘Back-pay’, he said, ‘plus an advance on a quick tumble tomorrow night.’ |
▪ II. tumble, v.
(ˈtʌmb(ə)l)
Also 4–5 tumbel, 4–6 tumbil, 4–7 tomble, 5 towmble, tumbell, -bill (also 6 Sc.), 5–6 tombel, toumble, 6 toomble; Sc. 4 twmmyll, 4–6 tummyll, tumle, 6 tummill, north. dial. tomyll, 8–9 tummle.
[ME. tumbel, etc. = MLG., LG., mod.Ger. (sich) tummeln, EFris. tummeln, early mod.Du. (Kilian) tommelen, tummelen, Fris. tommelje, Da. tumle, Sw. tumla to tumble down, (refl.) to roll oneself, turn round, also OHG. tumalôn, mod.Ger. tummeln to bustle, hurry, make haste. By the side of these, OHG. had, with long ū, tûmalôn, mod.Ger. taumeln to be giddy, reel, stagger, tumble, Du. tuimelen, earlier tuymelen (Kilian), to tumble, fall. The forms with short and long u were originally variants, formed as frequentatives or diminutives of OHG. tumôn, OE. tumbian, tumb; in mod.Ger. they have become differentiated in sense as well as in form. From an OLG. tumben, tummen, came OF. tumer, tumber, tomber to fall, which has prob. influenced the Eng. sense of tumble. The ME. spelling tomb- was merely graphic: see O (the letter).]
I. 1. intr. † To dance with posturing, balancing, contortions, and the like (obs.); to perform as an acrobat; esp. to execute leaps, springs, somersaults, and similar feats.
| a 1300 Cursor M. 13140 (Gött.) His broþer doghtir..Balid wele and tumblid [v.rr. tumbel, tumble, tomblyng] wid al. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2820 Eroud swore To here þat tumbled yn þe flore, Þat [etc.]. a 1350 St. Thomas 40 in Horstm. Altengl. Leg. (1881) 20 A woman was þore in þe hall Þat tumbild fast bifor þam all. 1530 Palsgr. 763/2, I tumble, as a tombler dothe, je tumbe... This felowe can tomble well. 1604 E. G[rimstone] D'Acosta's Hist. Indies vi. xxviii. 493 Their great agilitie, in leaping, vaulting and tumbling. 1768 Johnson in Boswell (1906) I. 343 A man who is paid for tumbling upon his hands. 1840 Dickens Old C. Shop v, The boy..having a natural taste for tumbling, was now standing on his head. |
2. a. intr. To roll about on the ground, or in the water or air; to wallow; also to throw oneself about in a restless way on a bed or couch; to toss. Also fig.
| 14.. 26 Pol. Poems xxv. 223 The pyt of hell..Where synful soules tumble and raue. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Eph. Prol., Yf thou..wylt tomble and walowe styll in wylful ignoraunce, and errour. 1606 Shakes. Ant. & Cl. i. iv. 17 Let us grant it is not Amisse to tumble on the bed of Ptolomy. 1608 ― Per. ii. i. 27, I saw the Porpas how he bounst and tumbled. a 1684 Leighton Wks. (1835) I. 116 Shall they then, who are purified..return to live among the swine, and tumble with them in the puddle? 1745 P. Thomas Jrnl. Anson's Voy. 20 Seals..leaping and tumbling in the Water. 1819 Byron Juan ii. cxxxviii, Haidée..sadly toss'd and tumbled, And started from her sleep. 1840 Dickens Barn. Rudge v, He was very restless.., and for some hours tossed and tumbled. |
† b. refl. in same sense. Obs.
| 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iii. (1586) 122 A place meete for their wallowing, wherein..they may tumble themselues. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 75 The Goose..doth loue to swim, and to coole, plunge, and tumble her selfe euerie day. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. 95 When hungry they tumble themselves in red earth, and so lie as if dead.., and when the birds of prey come to feed on them, they suddainly take them. |
c. intr. spec. of a pigeon: To throw itself over backwards during its flight; cf. tumbler 4; in gunnery, of a projectile, to turn end over end in its flight.
| 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 116 Pigeons tumbling in the Air. 1735 J. Moore Columbarium 40 When they are up at their Pitch, the better Sort seldom or never tumble. 1868 Darwin Anim. & Pl. I. v. 151 The Common English Tumblers have exactly the same habits as the Persian Tumbler, but tumble better. 1906 Westm. Gaz. 4 Oct. 5/3 Erosion..not sufficiently serious to..affect the flight of the projectiles, none of which were observed to ‘tumble’. |
II. 3. a. intr. To fall; esp. to fall in a helpless way, as from stumbling or violence; to be precipitated, fall headlong; also said of a stream falling in a cataract.
| 13.. K. Alis. 2465 (Bodl. MS.) Men miȝtten sen..Heuedes tumblen guttes drawe Many body ouerþrowe. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 70 He stombled at a nayle, Into þe waise..he tombled top ouer taile. 1470–85 Malory Arthur x. lvi. 507 He tombled doune of his hors in a swoune. 1560 J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 323 b, They..tomble of the bridge into the Rhine. 1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Tri. i. xlix, From heav'n it tombled to the deep. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. ii. 74 One of the gang tumbled off of his Mule, and had almost broken his Neck. 1697 Dryden æneid viii. 317 The fix'd foundations of the rock Gave way;..Tumbling it chok'd the flood. 1796 Morse Amer. Geog. I. 449 In passing through this hilly country, it tumbles over many falls. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xiv. III. 401 He opened the barrel; and from among a heap of shells out tumbled a stout halter. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 132 Fragments of rock..tumble down into the stream. |
b. intr. To fall prone, fall to the ground; often const. down, over. Also, to stumble by tripping over an object.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3388 But our on [= unless one of us] titly tumbel trowe me neuer after. Ibid. 3866 He tit ouer his hors tayl tombled ded to þerþe. 1375 Barbour Bruce xiii. 29 Thar mycht man..se tummyll knychtis and stedis. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 478 Suche a stroke..that he made him tomble over & over at his fete. 1732 T. Lediard Sethos II. ix. 325 The force..only made him tumble the sooner. 1843 Borrow Bible in Spain xxiv. (Pelh. Libr.) 167 The mule of the peasant tumbled prostrate. |
c. intr. Of a building or structure: To fall in ruins or fragments; to collapse. Also fig.
| a 1400–50 Alexander 552 All þe erd euyn ouer sa egirly schakis, Þat teldis, templis, & touris tomble on hepis. a 1539 Cartular. Abb. de Rievalle (Surtees) 337 A steple tomylled down The tymber all to brokyn. a 1682 Sir T. Browne Tracts ix. (1683) 156 Obelisks have their term, and Pyramids will tumble. 1820 Belzoni Egypt & Nubia iii. 385 There are a great number of houses, half tumbled down. 1880 M. E. Braddon Just as I am xix, We should tumble to pieces without you. |
d. intr. To fall rapidly in value, amount, or price: said esp. of stocks. Commercial slang.
| 1886 Pall Mall G. 8 Nov. 2/1 Rents had tumbled from 18 to 30 per cent., were likely to tumble still more. 1895 Daily News 21 Dec. 5/4 As stock after stock tumbled the shouting became a prolonged roar. |
e. Of laundry: to be tossed about in the revolving drum of a tumble-drier (or washing-machine).
| 1970 Which? Aug. 240/1 Too much foam will certainly stop your clothes from tumbling freely and so getting clean. 1975 C. Weston Susannah Screaming (1976) i. 9 Rees..watched his laundry tumbling inside the barrel of the dryer. |
4. a. trans. To cause to fall suddenly or violently; to throw or cast down.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce vi. 255 He tumlit doun on þaim þe stane. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxiii. 496 Whan bayarde was thus tombled in the ryver, he sanke vnto the botome of it. a 1533 Ld. Berners Huon clix. 611 With all his strengthe he tombelyd Barnarde ouer the bourde into the water. 1588 Shakes. Tit. A. ii. iii. 176 Oh..tumble me into some loathsome pit. 1623 R. Carpenter Conscionable Christian 72 Let Romish Jezebel..not be spared, tumble her out at window. 1774 Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) III. 68 It [the chamois] drives at the hunter with its head, and often tumbles him down the neighbouring precipice. 1889 Gretton Memory's Harkb. 36 He collared one of the men, and tumbled him over the balusters. |
| fig. 1549 Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. 1 Pet. 11 God forbydde that I..shoulde be tombled backe agayne to this worlds delices. 1663 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. xi. (1687) 65 They tumbled themselves into an Abysse of misery and woe irrecoverable. 1812 Byron Ch. Har. i. lii, He whose nod Has tumbled feebler despots from their sway. 1848 Thackeray Van. Fair xxxv, It is she who has tumbled my hopes and all my pride down. |
b. To cause to fall prostrate; to overthrow.
| c 1400 Destr. Troy 7243 Achilles..Mony Troiens ouer⁓tyrnyt, tumblit to dethe. 1534 More Treat. Passion Wks. 1294/2 Thys fierce furious kynge..was with the waues of the water..ouer throwen and tumbled downe..and wretchedlye drowned. 1625 T. Godwin Moses & Aaron v. vii. 246 One of the witnesses tumbled him by a stroke vpon the loynes. 1700 Dryden Pal. & Arc. iii. 653 King Lycurgus..was tumbled on the plain. 1837–8 J. Keegan Leg. & Poems (1907) 59 Come boys, have at him,..now's the time to tumble him. 1895 Outing (U.S.) XXVII. 219/2, I now had him [the bull] in plain view, broadside on, and tumbled him in his tracks. |
c. To throw down and destroy (a structure); to overthrow, demolish, reduce to ruins. Also fig.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce ix. 452 Þe towris euerilkane And vallis gert he tummyll doune. c 1400 Destr. Troy 4877, I put not vnpossible ȝon place for to take..And all the toures of the toun tumbell to ground. 1596 Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, iii. i. 32 Vnruly Winde..which..tombles downe Steeples, and mosse-growne Towers. 1696 Brookhouse Temple Open. Pref. A iv, To undermine the Foundation, and to tumble down the whole Frame. 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. vi. ix. (1849) 375 The noblest monuments which pride has ever reared..the hand of time will shortly tumble into ruins. 1875 Whitney Life Lang. ii. 30 Some antagonist or successor, perhaps,..tumbles into ruins the whole magnificent structure of fancied truth. |
5. To cause to fall in a confused heap; to throw down, in, out, etc. without order or regularity; to mix up in confusion, jumble together. Also fig.
| 1562 in W. H. Turner Select. Rec. Oxford (1880) 291 To be shaked and tombled together [in balloting]. 1601 ? Marston Pasquil & Kath. (1878) i. 133 And after death..We all together shall be tumbled vp, into one bagge. 1663 Gerbier Counsel 26 Car-men turne or tumble down their Bricks. 1787 Sir J. Hawkins Life Johnson 99 He would not suffer any one to approach, except the compositor or Cave's boy for matter, which, as fast as he composed it, he tumbled out at the door. 1821 Lamb Elia Ser. i. Mackery End, She was tumbled early..into a spacious closet of good old English reading. 1869 H. F. Tozer Highl. Turkey I. 312 He tumbled on to my plate..half a dishful of mulberries. |
6. To propel or drive headlong, or with a falling, stumbling, or rolling movement; to precipitate; to throw or thrust roughly or forcibly; to toss, pitch, bundle. Also fig.
| 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xiv. (Percy Soc.) 52 O thoughtful herte, tombled all about Upon the se of stormy ignoraunce. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 109 We..tell one thyng after an other, from tyme to tyme, not tomblyng one tale in an others necke. 1595 Shakes. John iii. iv. 176 A little snow, tumbled about, Anon becomes a Mountaine. 1684 Bunyan Pilgr. ii. 23 They were greatly tumbled up and down in their minds, and knew not what to do. 1757 Smollett Reprisal i. i, To be tossed and tumbled about like a football. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 87, I was bound.., and then tumbled with kicks..along the deck. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. v, Effie used to help me to tumble the bundles o' barkened leather up and down. 1840 Carlyle Heroes iii. 171 He [Shakspere]..tumbles and tosses him [his butt] in all sorts of horse-play. |
| refl. 1548 Udall Erasm. Par. Luke iii. 47 No manne should presse or toumble himselfe into such an high office. 1884 Tennyson Becket i. i, The hog hath tumbled himself into some corner. |
7. a. intr. To move or pass with a motion as if falling or stumbling; to move precipitately; to proceed hastily, without order or premeditation; to bowl, bundle, roll, rush. Also fig. Now colloq.
| 1590 Greene Orl. Fur. Wks. (Rtldg.) 92 When I take my truncheon in my fist, A sceptre then comes tumbling in my thoughts. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 18 A great water flood,..tombling low From the high mountaines. 1683 Bunyan Greatness of Soul Wks. (ed. Offor) I. 141 What was the cause..? Why, their profits came tumbling in. 1712 Steele Spect. No. 552 ¶1, I was tumbling about the town the other day in a hackney-coach. 1798 Hull Advertiser 10 Nov. 1/4 We..have been tumbling about in very bad weather. 1843 Lever J. Hinton xiii, Tumble into bed, and go to sleep as fast as you can. 1850 Smedley F. Fairlegh i, Hastily tumbling into my clothes,..I rushed down-stairs. |
b. to tumble up: to make haste, orig. (Naut.) from below deck. slang.
| 1826 W. N. Glascock Naval Sketch-Bk. I. 8 The command was repeated by the boatswain and his mates, who were piping and roaring down the hatchways—‘Tumble up, tumble up from below.’ 1832 Marryat N. Forster xxii, Tumble up smartly, my lads. 1838 Dickens Nich. Nick. (1839) viii. 65 ‘Now, Nickleby, come; tumble up, will you?’ Nicholas..‘tumbled up’ at once, and proceeded to dress himself. 1842 J. F. Cooper Wing-and-Wing I. viii. 125 This sight produced a great commotion in the ship, even the watch below ‘tumbling up’, to get another sight of a craft so renowned. 1858 Trollope Three Clerks II. ii. 40 ‘Mr. Tudor to attend in the board-room immediately,’ said a fat messenger... ‘All right,’ said Charley—‘I'll tumble up and be with them in ten seconds.’ |
8. trans. To turn over as in examination or search; hence fig. to examine cursorily. Now rare.
| 1597 Morley Introd. Mus. Pref., What labour it was to tomble, tosse, and search so manie bookes. 1633 G. Herbert Temple Ch. Porch xxv, Look in thy chest;..And tumble up and down what thou find'st there. 1652 Sir C. Cotterell Cassandra iii. (1676) 49 Tumbling over a thousand several designs in his head. 1737 [S. Berington] G. di Lucca's Mem. To Rdr. (1738) 12 The Custom-House Officers at Marseilles..tumbled over his Effects at a very rude Rate. 1823 Byron Juan xiii. cii, The elderly walk'd through the library, And tumbled books. |
9. a. To have sexual intercourse with. slang.
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. iv. v. 62 Quoth she before you tumbled me. You promis'd me to Wed. 1698 Vanbrugh Prov. Wife v. iii, To deliver up her fair body, to be tumbled and mumbled by..Heartfree. 1772 T. Bridges Burlesque Transl. Homer i. 4 What priest beside thyself e'er grumbl'd To have his daughter tightly tumbl'd? 1922 Joyce Ulysses 502 Beware of the flapper and bogus mournful... Tumble her. 1971 ‘R. Macdonald’ Underground Man xxxii. 225 He had tumbled the prettiest girl, and got her with child, and Albert and Fritz had taken the rap for it. 1973 Guardian 21 June 10/1 A hip young girl who tumbles him when his wife is away. 1976 R. Lewis Witness my Death v. 166 Tommy Elias had tumbled the schoolgirl in the ferns. |
b. To handle roughly or indelicately; to touse, tousle; to upset the arrangement of (anything neat or orderly); to disorder, rumple; to disarrange by tossing: e.g. to tumble bedclothes, a bed, or dress.
| 1715 Lady M. W. Montagu Town Eclogues, Tuesday, Her night-cloaths tumbled with resistless grace. 1716 B. Church Hist. Philip's War (1867) II. 24 The ground being much tumbled with them. a 1732 Gay Rehearsal at Goatham i, How frightfully he hath tumbled me. 1825 Scott Talism. ix, Lay me the couch more fairly, it is tumbled like a stormy sea. |
10. a. intr. fig. or in fig. context; esp. To come by chance, stumble, blunder into, on, upon.
| 1565 T. Stapleton Fortr. Faith 56 b, A sorte of Christians, called papistes, which were tombled themselues in idolatry, blindnesse, and superstition. 1632 Lithgow Trav. i. 38 [We] tumbled in by chance, Alla capello Ruosso. 1706 E. Ward Wooden World Diss. (1708) 90 If he had not tumbl'd into a Ship, he had long ago dropt from the Gallows. 1874 L. Carr Jud. Gwynne I. ii. 47 After hunting for you everywhere..here I tumble on you amidst the howling wilderness of Furrowshire. 1903 Morley Gladstone I. 428 The impossible parliament had tumbled into a great war. |
b. fig. To understand something not clearly expressed; to perceive or apprehend a hidden design or signal. Const. to, that. slang. Also trans., to detect, see through.
| 1846 Swell's Night Guide 58, I..officed Bet, she tumbled to the fake, and stalled off to the dossery. 1851 Mayhew Lond. Labour I. 15/1 The high words in a tragedy we call jaw-breakers, and say we can't tumble to that barrikin. 1889 Opelousas (Louisiana) Democrat 4 Feb. 3/4 The clerk smiled rather wickedly..but I didn't tumble worth a cent. 1889 H. O'Reilly 50 Yrs. on Trail 375, I didn't tumble to this for a long time. 1901 ‘J. Flynt’ World of Graft iii. 104 Women..tumble more guns 'n all the coppers in existence. 1926 Variety 29 Dec. 7/4 The pincher would never tumble that ‘nice people’ meant an act that kicked in more than the usual vaudeville agent's legitimate commission. 1936 G. Ingram Muffled Man iii. 49 You can't go on for ever at any game, and not get tumbled some time or other. 1938 F. D. Sharpe Sharpe of Flying Squad xxvi. 262 We thought you wouldn't tumble us, Guv'nor. 1962 New Statesman 21 Dec. 899/1 By the time you tumble that your drum has been turned over, we're miles away. 1974 Times 7 Feb. 3/7 John Rodger..heard the radio and said: ‘They have tumbled us.’ 1981 J. Barnett Firing Squad vi. 57 Have to have words with Simonson, in case he has tumbled the tattoo. |
c. To fall in with, agree to; to take a liking or fancy to. slang.
| 1887 E. J. Goodman Too Curious xvii, He did not like the idea at first; but..he tumbled to it at last. 1892 Daily News 21 Apr. 2/1 But the British public, in the slang of the day, ‘tumbles’ to a man who refuses anything good. |
III. 11. intr. Of the sides of a ship: To incline or slope inwards, to contract above the point of extreme breadth; to batter. Usually tumble home. Opposed to flare v. 4 a. Also transf.
| a 1687 Petty Treat. Naval Philos. i. ii, Let the supernatant sides of a Ship so much tumble..as that the said sides may remain perpendicular when the Ship stoops. 1711 W. Sutherland Shipbuild. Assist. 165 Tumbling home; when the Ship-side declines from a Perpendicular upwards, or, as some call it, houses in. 1761 H. Walpole Let. to G. Montagu 28 Apr., Old Newcastle, whose teeth are tumbled out, and his mouth tumbled in. 1848 T. White Ship Build. 39 The upper works usually incline towards the middle line, or as it is termed ‘tumble home’. |
12. trans. Carpentry. See quot.
| 1823 P. Nicholson Pract. Build. 120 Tumbling in a Joist, is to frame a joist between two timbers, of which the sides, which ought to be vertical or square to the upper edges, are oblique to these edges. 1856 S. C. Brees Gloss. Terms s.v., The purlines are sometimes tumbled in..between the sides of the principals of a roof. |
13. Mech. To mix, cleanse, or polish in a tumbling-box. Cf. tumbler 13 e.
| 1884 Wahl Galvanoplastic Manip. 529 (Cent. D.) Small castings can be tumbled and thus deprived of much of their adhering scale and sand. |