Word
topple
Phoneticstop·ple
US/ˈtɑpəɫ/
UK/tˈɒpəl/
Definition
v. to fall over or to knock someone or something down. You can also use it to describe a leader or government losing power suddenly.
v. to fall over or to cause something to fall over; to overthrow a person in power or a government. Transitive when referring to an object or a leader; intransitive when describing the act of falling.
Examples
“The heavy wind toppled the old fence.”
“The scandal led to the sudden topple of the prime minister and his entire cabinet.”
“While the physical structure of the bridge remained intact, the political system toppled overnight as the public lost faith in the ruling party's ability to manage the crisis.”
Examples
simple
“The heavy wind toppled the old fence.”
contextual
“The scandal led to the sudden topple of the prime minister and his entire cabinet.”
complex
“While the physical structure of the bridge remained intact, the political system toppled overnight as the public lost faith in the ruling party's ability to manage the crisis.”
Real-World Examples
“He wanted to topple certain governments in the Middle East.” “There are decades in which nothing happens, and weeks in which decades happen, and those weeks tend to result in leaders being toppled.” Etymology
From top + -le (frequentative verb suffix).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
topple over — To fall over (to fall from an upright or standing position to a horizontal or prone position).
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/topple