Definition of "rumble"

rumble

/ˈɹʌmb(ə)l/

noun
plural rumbles
1. A low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach.
2. (slang) A street fight or brawl.
3. A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.
4. (dated) A seat for servants, behind the body of a carriage.
  Quotations
  Kit, well wrapped, […] was in the rumble behind.
  1840-1841, Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock
  "I never was so sorry for any thing as for Mr. Glentworth's death," said Isabella Granard, endeavouring to screen her face from a small, sharp rain, to which her place in the rumble of a travelling carriage left her quite exposed.
  1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, page 2
verb
third-person singular simple present rumbles, present participle rumbling, simple past and past participle rumbled
1. (intransitive) To make a low, heavy, continuous sound.
2. (transitive) To discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour.
3. (intransitive) To move while making a rumbling noise.
  Quotations
  As the train rumbled slowly over the Forth Bridge, the western sky was aflame with a particularly gorgeous sunset, and lights were twinkling from the small craft riding at anchor on the calm waters of the firth.
  1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 8
  Henderson, beginning a mini-run in the team with David de Gea on paternity leave, threw out to the left flank and Shaw had only one thought – to rumble upfield.
  2021 March 7, David Hytner, “Manchester United catch City cold as Fernandes and Shaw end winning run”, in The Guardian‎
4. (slang, intransitive) To fight; to brawl.
5. (video games, intransitive, of a game controller) To provide haptic feedback by vibrating.
6. (transitive) To cause to pass through a rumble, or polishing machine.
7. (obsolete, intransitive) To murmur; to ripple.
  Quotations
  The trembling streams which wont in channels clearTo rumble gently down with murmur soft, […]
  c. 1580, Edmund Spenser, “The Tears of the Muses”, in Complaints‎, published 1591
interjection
1. An onomatopoeia describing a rumbling noise

Definition of "rumble"

rumble

noun

Quotations

verb

Quotations

Quotations

interjection