MEANING
To make a low, deep, rolling or vibrating sound.
Use it for
Distant storms, shifting rock, and low-frequency background sound.Announce a source before the eye can locate it.
Words that belong together
- thunder rumbles
- rumble in the distance
- rumbling storm
On the page
Thunder rumbled beyond the mountains.
Loose stones rumbled down the dry channel.
The glacier rumbled as another block broke free.
Nearby words
Related words
Word forms
- Base
- rumble / rumbles
- Past tense
- rumbled
- Past participle
- rumbled
- Present participle
- rumbling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- rumble / rumbles
- Present continuous
- am/is/are rumbling
- Present perfect
- have/has rumbled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been rumbling
- Past
- rumbled
- Past continuous
- was/were rumbling
- Past perfect
- had rumbled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been rumbling
- Future
- will rumble / rumbles
- Future continuous
- will be rumbling
- Future perfect
- will have rumbled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been rumbling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
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Usage notes
Primary category: environment. Often less sharply forceful than a roar; suited to distant thunder or moving heavy material. Also a noun. Verb [base, third-person, past, past participle, -ing]: rumble, rumbles, rumbled, rumbled, rumbling.
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