rumble
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
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to give forth or utter with a rumbling sound.
to rumble a command.
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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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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
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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:
Kids who grew up near those hills remember the rumble and roar of Rocketdyne testing another rocket engine and the cloudbanks of smoke from the test firings.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 15, 2026
It is a debate that will rumble on into the summer, with Scotland's chances of knockout progression now rated at about 5%.
From BBC ● 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
The plant’s low rumble reverberated across the surrounding desert, unusually green from a recent rain.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
The machines continued to rumble even as smoke filled the room.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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
Mr. Spears’s orchestration is similarly evocative of this timeless state, with rumbles, lush strings, and no high woodwinds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
The plans come as a months-long diplomatic row between Japan and China over comments Takaichi made on Taiwan rumbles on.
From Barron's ● Feb. 27, 2026
He preened, even as the rumbles of the Maafa smashing against the Golden Crescent shook the room.
From "Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky" by Kwame Mbalia
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
The new measures, announced by China’s commerce ministry on Monday, show Beijing isn’t backing down in a dispute that has rumbled on for months.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
Opening track Are You Listening Yet rumbled along on an irresistible soca rhythm, while a sample of Underworld's Born Slippy gave Taste Back a much-needed turbo boost.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
"Markets pulled back across Europe as the waiting game to end the Iran war rumbled on," said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
From Barron's ● May 21, 2026
Mr. Poe’s automobile rumbled along the cobblestone streets of the city toward the neighborhood where Count Olaf lived.
From "The Bad Beginning" by Lemony Snicket
But internal wrangling over defence spending has been rumbling on for months following multiple delays to the DIP, which was originally due last autumn.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
But the construction noise, rumbling trucks and constant influx of workers has the couple at their wits’ end.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
That rumbling you hear could also just be suitcases rolled over ancient streets.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 2026
Thousands of metres beneath the ground, amid suffocating heat, lies one of the keys to Poland's rumbling mining sector -- and the world economy.
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
Maybe the demons had good reason, because as I watched, the felines' hisses and purrs deepened into rumbling growls and they grew bigger, becoming...big cats.
From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda
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.
