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Descent vs Tumble - What's the difference?

descent | tumble | Related terms |

Descent is a related term of tumble.


As nouns the difference between descent and tumble

is that descent is an instance of descending while tumble is a fall.

As a verb tumble is

(lb) to fall end over end.

descent

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • An instance of descending
    • We climbed the mountain with difficulty, but the descent was easier.
  • * 2012 , July 15. Richard Williams in Guardian Unlimited, Tour de France 2012: Carpet tacks cannot force Bradley Wiggins off track
    • The next one surrendered his bike, only for that, too, to give him a second flat as he started the descent .
  • A way down.
    • We had difficulty in finding the correct descent .
  • A sloping passage or incline.
    • The descent into the cavern was wet and slippery.
  • Lineage or hereditary derivation
    • Our guide was of Welsh descent .
  • A drop to a lower status or condition.
    • After that, the holiday went into a steep descent .

    Usage notes

    * Sometimes confused with (decent).

    Related terms

    * descend

    Antonyms

    * (going down) ascent

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    *

    tumble

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fall.
    • I took a tumble down the stairs and broke my tooth.
  • An act of sexual intercourse.
  • * John Betjeman, Group Life: Letchworth
    • Wouldn't it be jolly now, / To take our Aertex panters off / And have a jolly tumble in / The jolly, jolly sun?
  • * 1979 , Martine, Sexual Astrology (page 219)
    • When you've just had a tumble between the sheets and are feeling rumpled and lazy, she may want to get up so she can make the bed.

    Derived terms

    * rough and tumble * take a tumble * tumble dryer * tumbler * give a tumble

    Verb

    (tumbl)
  • (lb) To fall end over end.
  • *(Robert South) (1634–1716)
  • *:He who tumbles from a tower surely has a greater blow than he who slides from a molehill.
  • *
  • *:“Heavens!” exclaimed Nina, “the blue-stocking and the fogy!—and yours are'' pale blue, Eileen!—you’re about as self-conscious as Drina—slumping there with your hair tumbling ''à la Mérode! Oh, it's very picturesque, of course, but a straight spine and good grooming is better.”
  • To perform gymnastics such as somersaults, rolls, and handsprings.
  • :(Rowe)
  • To roll over and over.
  • *1908 , (Kenneth Grahame), (The Wind in the Willows)
  • *:The two animals tumbled over each other in their eagerness to get inside, and heard the door shut behind them with great joy and relief.
  • (lb) To have sexual intercourse.
  • (lb) To smooth and polish a rough surface on relatively small parts.
  • To muss, to make disorderly; to tousle or rumple.
  • :

    • Derived terms

    * tumble to