rumble

Etymology

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.

noun

1. 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.
2. (slang) A street fight or brawl.
3. A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.
4. (dated) A seat for servants, behind the body of a carriage.

verb

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

intj

1. An onomatopoeia describing a rumbling noise