rumble
Americanverb (used without object)
-
rumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rumbled,
past participle, past
-
rumbling
present participle
verb (used with object)
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rumbles,
present (3rd person singular)
-
rumbled,
past participle, past
-
rumbling
present participle
-
to give forth or utter with a rumbling sound.
to rumble a command.
-
to cause to make or move with a rumbling sound.
to rumble a wagon over the ground.
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to subject to the action of a rumble or tumbling box, as for the purpose of polishing.
noun
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rumbles
plural
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a deep, heavy, somewhat muffled, continuous sound.
the rumble of tanks across a bridge.
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a rear part of a carriage containing seating accommodations, as for servants, or space for baggage.
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a tumbling box.
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Slang. a street fight between rival teenage gangs.
verb
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to make or cause to make a deep resonant sound
thunder rumbled in the sky
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to move with such a sound
the train rumbled along
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(tr) to utter with a rumbling sound
he rumbled an order
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(tr) to tumble (metal components, gemstones, etc) in a barrel of smooth stone in order to polish them
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informal (tr) to find out about (someone or something); discover (something)
the police rumbled their plans
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slang (intr) to be involved in a gang fight
noun
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a deep resonant sound
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a widespread murmur of discontent
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another name for tumbler
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slang a gang fight
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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rumblesimple
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rumblessimple
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have rumbledperfect
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has rumbledperfect
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am rumblingprogressive
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are rumblingprogressive
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is rumblingprogressive
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have been rumblingperfect progressive
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has been rumblingperfect progressive
Past
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rumbledsimple
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had rumbledperfect
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was rumblingprogressive
-
were rumblingprogressive
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had been rumblingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of rumble
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English verb romblen, rumblen; compare Dutch rommelen, probably imitative of the sound; 1940–45 rumble for def. 3
Explanation
Are you ready to rumble? To rumble is to throw down, or fight. If you hear a truck rumble down your street, don’t put up your dukes — to rumble also means to make a low, deep sound. Thunder rumbles just before you see lightning flash, and dogs sometimes rumble a low warning growl when they see someone unfamiliar. As a noun, rumble can mean "a low sound," “a seat in the back of a carriage” (the rumble seat) or " a street fight." It's a little old fashioned today to call a gang brawl a rumble, but if you've ever seen the movie "West Side Story," you've seen the rumble between the Jets and the Sharks.
Vocabulary lists containing rumble
The Outsiders
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Game Changer
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"A Contest of Riddles"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
There is no sign of this just yet but this is a saga with the potential to rumble on.
From BBC ● Aug. 1, 2026
He gets angry sometimes, but in this tournament he has yet to noticeably hector the refs or rumble with his opponents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Some of the damaged buildings groaned with each new rumble of the earth, as Venezuela endured more aftershocks.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
While the afternoons blazed, Tim sailed Melville’s waves of prose, alert to the rumble of an epic whale beneath their surface.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
There’s a soft rumble in the distance, and I swear I feel a raindrop on my cheek.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
In Tottenham, he performs alongside videos of his old friend on a version of Feel Good Inc that rumbles like a juggernaut.
From BBC ● Jun. 21, 2026
As the first-quarter earnings season rumbles on, those lofty expectations have looked justified so far: The pace of earnings growth reported by firms so far has dramatically surpassed analysts’ expectations.
From MarketWatch ● May 3, 2026
Along Egypt's Mediterranean coast, the oldest tram in Africa and the Middle East rumbles for a final few weeks before its removal -- the latest urban upheaval Alexandrians say is hollowing out their city's identity.
From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026
It rumbles into the end zone on a quarterback keeper.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025
Just as my stomach rumbles with gaseous unpleasantness, so does the ocean beneath the hull of our ship.
From "Challenger Deep" by Neal Shusterman
Arguments broke out, the crowd rumbled, and one younger woman suggested that an ill-tempered intruder needed to “dance hrself clean.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
Many Flores inhabitants slept outside for a second night in a row, afraid to go home as hundreds of aftershocks rumbled through the area.
From Barron's ● Aug. 17, 2026
Last year, more than 1.8 million trucks rumbled across the aging aquamarine span, which opened in 1929 and is one of the continent’s busiest land-border crossings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
Just two days earlier, a magnitude 4.4 rumbled in the desert about 60 miles north of Sin City, where some people reported weak shaking.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 4, 2026
Lightning flashed within the broiling mass, and the sky rumbled.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
Talk of City signing Bouaddi has been rumbling all summer, and the club have reportedly held talks with the Moroccan,, external who would cost an estimated £85m.
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
So when a calf disappeared into the tall grass recently, he roamed among the herd making low, rumbling grunts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2026
An eyewitness told the Daily Tribune newspaper that she heard a loud rumbling moments before the collapse.
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
We barely notice the beginning of the performance—a low, rumbling drone accompanies our arrival in the theater, and the actual music begins before the lights fully dim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
The front left wheel on Kyle’s rumbling three-tiered wagon was wobbly.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
