Tumble, 1) intr. a) to roll about by turning one way and another: “hedgehogs which lie --ing in my barefoot way,” Tp. II, 2, 11. “into the --ing billows of the main,” R3 I, 4, 20. “when I saw the porpus how he bounced and --d,” Per. II, 1, 27. a' (the whale) “plays and --s, driving the poor fry before him,” Per. II, 1, 27 In a lascivious sense: “while we lie --ing in the hay,” Wint. IV, 3, 12. “it is not amiss to t. on the bed of Ptolemy,” Ant. I, 4, 17.
b) to lose footing and totter or fall downward: “they all did t. on the ground,” LLL V, 2, 115. “now Phaethon hath --d from his car,” H6C I, 4, 33. “ready, with every nod, to t. down into the fatal bowels of the deep,” R3 III, 4, 102. “sometimes, like to a bowl upon a subtle ground, I have --d past the throw,” Cor. V, 2, 21. “though the treasure of nature's germens t. all together,” Mcb. IV, 1, 59.
2) trans. a) to roll about: “a little snow, --d about, anon becomes a mountain,” John III, 4, 176.
b) to toss: “where we left him at sea, --d and tost,” Per. V Prol. 13 (Qq we there him left; M. Edd. we there him lost).
c) to rumple (as a bed; cf. Betumble); in a lascivious sense: “before you --d me,” Hml. IV, 5, 62.
d) to make to totter and fall, to throw down: “--s down steeples,” H4A III, 1, 32 (Qq topples). “to t. down thy husband and thyself from top of honour to disgrace's feet,” H6B I, 2, 48. “as many coxcombs as you threw caps up will he t. down,” Cor. IV, 6, 135. “t. me into some loathsome pit,” Tit. II, 3, 176.
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
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