rumble
verbEtymology 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)).
7 senses
To make a low, heavy, continuous sound.
- If I don't eat, my stomach will rumble.
- I could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance.
1 more example
- I watched him take his seat on the third row from the front, and I heard him rumble, “Nearer my God to thee,” some notes behind the rest of us.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC:
To discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour.
- The police is going to rumble your hideout.
To move while making a rumbling noise.
- The truck rumbled over the rough road.
- 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:
2 more examples
- 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:
- We meet at Blackfriars station, in a rather incongruous little room with four seats, on the bridge high above the River Thames. […] Thameslink trains rumble past every minute. You can't just hear them - you feel them through the floor.2026 May 13, Angie Doll tells Paul Clifton, “The RAIL Interview”, in RAIL, number 1061, page 50:
Slang To fight; to brawl.
Video games Of a game controller To provide haptic feedback by vibrating.
To cause to pass through a rumble, or polishing machine.
Obsolete To murmur; to ripple.
- The trembling streams which wont in channels clear To rumble gently down with murmur soft,[…]c. 1580, Edmund Spenser, “The Tears of the Muses”, in Complaints, published 1591: