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rumble

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rumble¹

  • /ˈɹʌmb(ə)l/ Southern England, US
  • /ˈɹɐmb(ə)l/ Australia, New Zealand
  • /ˈɹʊmb(ə)l/ Northern England
  • /ˈɾʌmb(ə)l/ Scotland, Wales

Rhymes with -ʌmbəl

Where it comes from

From Middle English rumblen, romblen, rummelyn, frequentative form of romen (“to roar”), equivalent to rome + -le. Cognate with Dutch rommelen (“to rumble”), Low German rummeln (“to rumble”), German rumpeln (“to be noisy”), Danish rumle (“to rumble”), all of imitative origin.

Compare typologically Russian громи́ть (gromítʹ), погро́м (pogróm), разгро́м (razgróm) (akin to гром (grom), греме́ть (gremétʹ), громыха́ть (gromyxátʹ)). Also compare гро́хнуть (gróxnutʹ) (akin to гро́хот (gróxot)).

noun rumbles · rummle · rommle

  1. A low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach. The rumble from passing trucks made it hard to sleep at night.
  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. Kit, well wrapped, […] was in the rumble behind.

Similar: beating, drumming, grumbling, rataplan, rubadub, rumble, rumbling · Opposite: snap

verb rumbles · rumbling · rumbled · rummle · rommle

  1. intransitive To make a low, heavy, continuous sound. If I don't eat, my stomach will rumble.

    Similar: grumble

  2. transitive To discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour. The police is going to rumble your hideout.
  3. intransitive To move while making a rumbling noise. The truck rumbled over the rough road.
  4. intransitive, slang To fight; to brawl. The Puerto Ricans grumble, "Fair fight," / But if they start a rumble, we'll rumble 'em right
  5. intransitive, of a game controller To provide haptic feedback by vibrating.
  6. transitive To cause to pass through a rumble, or polishing machine.
  7. intransitive, obsolete To murmur; to ripple. The trembling streams which wont in channels clear To rumble gently down with murmur soft,[…]

interjection rummle · rommle

  1. An onomatopoeia describing a rumbling noise

Rumble²

Where it comes from

A variant of Rumbold, Rumbel or Rumpel.

proper noun Rumbles

  1. countable, uncountable A surname. The agency's Mark Rumble said the items found in Newcastle had probably come from a waste processing facility.
  2. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Pike County, Indiana, United States.
  3. countable, uncountable An unincorporated community in Boone County, West Virginia, United States.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: grumble, growl, grumbling, gang fight, roar, brawl, scuffle, tussle, trouble, beat, fight, melee, shagging, fighting, echo, thunder

noun

Similar: beating, drumming, grumbling, rataplan, rubadub, rumble, rumbling · Opposite: snap

Translations

Every language

noun low, heavy, continuous sound

中文轟隆 /轰隆 hōnglóng, 隆隆聲 /隆隆声 lónglóngshēng
Portuguêsronco, ribombo
Françaisborborygme, gargouillement, grondement
DeutschPoltern, Rumpeln, Grollen
Italianosferragliamento, rombo, rimbombo
Русскийгро́хот gróxot, громыха́ние gromyxánije, грохота́нье groxotánʹje, урча́ние určánije

noun street fight or brawl

Españolpelea callejera, riña
Portuguêsbriga
DeutschSchlägerei
Italianorissa, caciara, battibecco
Русскийсты́чка stýčka, дра́ка dráka, потасо́вка potasóvka

verb to make a low pitched noise

Españolretumbar, rugir, rimbombar
中文咕咕叫 gūgū jiào
Portuguêsroncar
Françaisgronder, gargouiller
Deutschrumpeln, knurren
Italianobrontolare, rimbombare
Русскийгрохота́ть groxotátʹ, громыха́ть gromyxátʹ

verb to discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour

Deutschspitzkriegen, durchschauen
Italianosmascherare

verb to move while making a rumbling noise

Italianosferragliare

verb to fight, brawl

日本語怒る ikaru
Portuguêsbrigar

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Cite this
MLA

"rumble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/rumble. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

rumble. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/rumble

Chicago

"rumble." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/rumble.

BibTeX
@misc{rumble_2026,
  title = {rumble},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/rumble},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}