rumble
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
n.a low, heavy, and continuous sound, like the sound of thunder or a large truck.
n.a low, heavy, continuous sound, often produced by natural phenomena or heavy machinery.
Simple“We heard the distant rumble of thunder just before the rain started.”
In context“The low rumble of the underground train vibrated through the floorboards of the apartment every twenty minutes.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
n.a fight between groups of people, usually in the street.
n.a street fight or brawl, typically involving rival gangs or groups.
Simple“The two rival groups met in the park for a rumble at midnight.”
In context“Local authorities were concerned that a minor dispute between the youths would escalate into a full-scale rumble.”
- 03 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to make a deep, heavy, continuous sound.
v.to emit a low, heavy, continuous sound; often used intransitively.
Simple“My stomach started to rumble because I hadn't eaten lunch yet.”
In context“Heavy lorries rumble past the house all night, making it difficult for the residents to sleep soundly.”
- 04 C1 Advanced
v.to find out the truth about someone's secret or dishonest plan.
v.to discover or uncover someone's deceitful behaviour or hidden intentions.
Simple“The police finally rumbled his plan to steal the money.”
In context“He thought he was being clever, but his colleagues soon rumbled what he was actually doing with the company accounts.”
UsageThis sense is transitive and requires a direct object, usually the person or the plot being discovered.
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)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.