rumble

See also: Rumble

English

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.

rumble (plural rumbles)

the sound of the rumble of thunder

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.
(slang) A street fight or brawl.
A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.
(dated) A seat for servants, behind the body of a carriage.
- 1840-1841, Charles Dickens, Master Humphrey's Clock:
  Kit, well wrapped, […] was in the rumble behind.
- 1838 (date written), L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter I, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], published 1842, →OCLC, page 2:
  "I never was so sorry for any thing as for Mr. Glentworth's death," said Isabella Granard, endeavouring to screen her face from a small, sharp rain, to which her place in the rumble of a travelling carriage left her quite exposed.

low, heavy, continuous sound

street fight or brawl

rumble (third-person singular simple present rumbles, present participle rumbling, simple past and past participle rumbled)

(intransitive) 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.
(transitive) To discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour.
The police is going to rumble your hideout.
(intransitive) To move while making a rumbling noise.
The truck rumbled over the rough road.
- 1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 8:
  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.
- 2021 March 7, David Hytner, “Manchester United catch City cold as Fernandes and Shaw end winning run”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:
  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.
(slang, intransitive) To fight; to brawl.
(video games, intransitive, of a game controller) To provide haptic feedback by vibrating.
(transitive) To cause to pass through a rumble, or polishing machine.
(obsolete, intransitive) To murmur; to ripple.
- c. 1580, Edmund Spenser, “The Tears of the Muses”, in Complaints‎^[2], published 1591:
  The trembling streams which wont in channels clear
  To rumble gently down with murmur soft, […]

to make a low pitched noise

to discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour

to move while making a rumbling noise

to fight, brawl

rumble