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Tumble vs Bumble - What's the difference?

tumble | bumble |

In intransitive terms the difference between tumble and bumble

is that tumble is to fall end over end while bumble is to boom, as a bittern; to buzz, as a fly.

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

    bumble

    English

    Etymology 1

    Onomatopoeia. English onomatopoeias Compare bungle, jumble, and fumble.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A confusion, jumble.
  • Verb

    (bumbl)
  • To act in an inept, clumsy or inexpert manner; to make mistakes.
  • Spiders build webs and wait for insects to bumble into them.

    Derived terms

    * Bumblefuck

    Etymology 2

    * Noun: From the verb. * Verb: Frequentative of boom'' and/or ''bum , equivalent to .

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A bumble-bee.
  • (UK, dialect) The bittern.
  • Verb

    (bumbl)
  • To boom, as a bittern; to buzz, as a fly.