topple
nounEtymology From top + -le (frequentative verb suffix).
1
Informal A fall (an instance of falling over).
2
A cascade of dominoes falling, such that each fall causes the next domino to topple.
topple
verbUS /ˈtɑpl̩/ · UK /ˈtɒpl̩/
Etymology From top + -le (frequentative verb suffix).
1
To push or throw over.
- The massed crowds toppled the statue of the former dictator.
2
To overturn.
3
Figuratively To overthrow something.
- to topple one's rival
- Barla Von: Most people think I deal in finances, but my real currency is knowledge. I trade information and it has made me very wealthy. Barla Von: But the Shadow Broker is the true master. Every day, he buys and sells secrets that could topple governments, always giving them to the highest bidder.2008, BioWare, Mass Effect, Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Citadel:
1 more example
- He now confronts the daunting endeavor of toppling a former president whose belligerence and loyal base of support have discouraged most leading Republicans — including, up to now, Mr. DeSantis — from making frontal attacks against him.2023 May 24, Nicholas Nehamas, “Ron DeSantis Joins 2024 Race, Hoping to Topple Trump”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
4
To totter and fall, or to lean as if about to do so.
- The pile of pennies began to topple.
- […] yonder cloud That rises upward always higher, And onward drags a labouring breast, And topples round the dreary west, A looming bastion fringed with fire.1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XV”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 24:
- Derived terms
- overtopple, topple over, toppler, topplesome, topply, untoppled