v. i. [ imp. & p. p. Tumbled p. pr. & vb. n. Tumbling ] [ OE. tumblen, AS. tumbian to turn heels over head, to dance violently; akin to D. tuimelen to fall, Sw. tumla, Dan. tumle, Icel. tumba; and cf. G. taumeln to reel, to stagger. ] 1. To roll over, or to and fro; to throw one's self about; as, a person in pain tumbles and tosses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To roll down; to fall suddenly and violently; to be precipitated; as, to tumble from a scaffold. [ 1913 Webster ]

He who tumbles from a tower surely has a greater blow than he who slides from a molehill. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To play tricks by various movements and contortions of the body; to perform the feats of an acrobat. Rowe. [ 1913 Webster ]

To tumble home (Naut.), to incline inward, as the sides of a vessel, above the bends or extreme breadth; -- used esp. in the phrase tumbling home. Cf. Wall-sided. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To turn over; to turn or throw about, as for examination or search; to roll or move in a rough, coarse, or unceremonious manner; to throw down or headlong; to precipitate; -- sometimes with over, about, etc.; as, to tumble books or papers. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To disturb; to rumple; as, to tumble a bed. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Act of tumbling, or rolling over; a fall. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. See Tumbledung. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Ready to fall; dilapidated; ruinous; as, a tumble-down house. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) Any one of numerous species of scaraboid beetles belonging to Scarabaeus, Copris, Phanaeus, and allied genera. The female lays her eggs in a globular mass of dung which she rolls by means of her hind legs to a burrow excavated in the earth in which she buries it. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body; an acrobat. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A movable obstruction in a lock, consisting of a lever, latch, wheel, slide, or the like, which must be adjusted to a particular position by a key or other means before the bolt can be thrown in locking or unlocking. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Firearms) A piece attached to, or forming part of, the hammer of a gunlock, upon which the mainspring acts and in which are the notches for the sear point to enter. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A drinking glass, without a foot or stem; -- so called because originally it had a pointed or convex base, and could not be set down with any liquor in it, thus compelling the drinker to finish his measure. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Zool.) A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for its habit of tumbling, or turning somersaults, during its flight. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Zool.) A breed of dogs that tumble when pursuing game. They were formerly used in hunting rabbits. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. A kind of cart; a tumbrel. [ Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Tumblerfuls As much as a tumbler will hold; enough to fill a tumbler. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) Any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots in the autumn, and is driven by the wind, as a light, rolling mass, over the fields and prairies; such as witch grass, wild indigo, Amarantus albus, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]