Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To make a deep, long, rolling sound.
  • intransitive verb To move or proceed with a deep, long, rolling sound.
  • intransitive verb Slang To engage in a gang fight.
  • intransitive verb To utter with a deep, long, rolling sound.
  • intransitive verb To polish or mix (metal parts) in a tumbling box.
  • noun A deep, long, rolling sound.
  • noun A tumbling box.
  • noun A luggage compartment or servant's seat in the rear of a carriage.
  • noun Pervasive, widespread expression of unrest or dissatisfaction.
  • noun A gang fight.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A deep, heavy, continuous, and more or less rattling or jarring sound, as of thunder; a low, jarring roar.
  • noun Confused reports; rumor.
  • noun Confusion; disorder; tumult.
  • noun A revolving cylinder or box in which articles are placed to be ground, cleaned, or polished by mutual attrition. Grinding- or polishing-material is added according to the need of the case.
  • noun A seat for servants in the rear of a carriage. Also rumble-tumble.
  • To make a deep, heavy, continued and more or less jarring sound: as, the thunder rumbles.
  • To murmur.
  • To move with a deep, hoarse, thundering or jarring sound; roll heavily and noisily.
  • To roll about; hence, to create disorder or confusion.
  • To cause to make a deep, rattling or jarring sound; rattle.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • intransitive verb To make a low, heavy, continued sound.
  • intransitive verb To murmur; to ripple.
  • noun obsolete A noisy report; rumor.
  • noun A low, heavy, continuous sound like that made by heavy wagons or the reverberation of thunder; a confused noise.
  • noun A seat for servants, behind the body of a carriage.
  • noun A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.
  • transitive verb To cause to pass through a rumble, or shaking machine. See rumble, n., 4.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection An onomatopoeia describing a rumbling noise
  • noun A low pitched irregular noise, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach.
  • noun slang A street fight or brawl.
  • noun A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.
  • verb To make a low-pitched noise.
  • verb To discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour.
  • verb To move while making a rumbling noise.
  • verb slang fight, brawl.
  • verb transitive To cause to pass through a rumble, or polishing machine.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a loud low dull continuous noise
  • noun a fight between rival gangs of adolescents
  • verb to utter or emit low dull rumbling sounds
  • verb make a low noise
  • noun a servant's seat (or luggage compartment) in the rear of a carriage

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English romblen, perhaps from Middle Dutch rommelen or from Middle Low German rummeln.]

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Examples

  • I love how sony made us buy the regular controllers and now that the rumble is available we all have to re-buy controllers. .kind of a profit making coincidence for sony don't you think?

    Sony ‘Dual Shock’ controller coming to PS3 | Sync Blog 2007

  • CHARLOTTE, N.C. The rumble from a pair of motors interrupted the opening ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    NASCAR opens Hall of Fame in Charlotte 2010

  • CHARLOTTE, N.C. The rumble from a pair of motors interrupted the opening ceremony at the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

    NASCAR opens Hall of Fame in Charlotte 2010

  • * A low rumble is heard in the distance, suddenly Chodin comes over the horizon riding on a giant ant.

    MUSLIMS AND DUTCH STILL BEEFIN’ 2008

  • The reason sony isnt using rumble is because of a big court case they got in with a 3rd party company who put rumble into there controller. they also took microsoft to court but te payed off the 3rd party company.

    EXTRALIFE – By Scott Johnson - Sony controller revolutionary? 2006

  • If you've ever stood on Park Avenue, Manhattan, and felt a subway train rumble by underfoot, you know what a typical quake feels like.

    On The Subject of Retirement Places 2005

  • Sony's official PlayStation blog has confirmed (link via Kotaku) that new PlayStation 3 controllers with DUALSHOCK technology -- also known as 'rumble' -- will rattle onto store shelves next week.

    Past Tech Trends & Products: Technology Live Archive 2008

  • Sony's official PlayStation blog has confirmed (link via Kotaku) that new PlayStation 3 controllers with DUALSHOCK technology -- also known as 'rumble' -- will rattle onto store shelves next week.

    Let's get ready to rumble 2008

  • Police said that shortly after 3 a.m. officers heard commotion - a metal "rumble" - coming from the roof of the Quick and Easy Food Store at 580 Bellevue Ave. and checked out the building.

    SplicedFeed 2010

  • A 2004 report from IIHS shows that textured pavement, known as rumble strips, have reduced head-on crashes and side swipes by 25 to 30 percent.

    Crash avoidance technologies: Benefit or distraction? 2008

Comments

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  • This word was used in "The Outsiders."

    July 7, 2012