1. To perform acrobatic feats such as somersaults, rolls, or twists.
2. 1. To fall or roll end over end: The kittens tumbled over each other.
   2. To spill or roll out in confusion or disorder: Students tumbled out of the bus.
   3. To pitch headlong; fall: tumbled on the ice.
   4. To proceed haphazardly.
3. 1. To topple, as from power or a high position; fall.
   2. To collapse: The wall tumbled down.
   3. To drop: Prices tumbled.
4. To come upon accidentally; happen on: We tumbled on a fine restaurant.
5. Slang. To come to a sudden understanding; catch on: tumbled to the reality that he had been cheated.

1. To cause to fall; bring down: A scandal tumbled the government.
2. To put, spill, or toss haphazardly: tumbled the extra parts into a box.
3. To toss or whirl in a drum, tumbler, or tumbling box.

1. An act of tumbling; a fall.
2. Confusion; disorder.

[Middle English tumblen, frequentative of tumben, to dance about, from Old English tumbian.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.