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tumbling

Adjective
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Falling, rolling, or moving head over heels in a chaotic way; describes turbulent water, playful movement, or chaotic collapse.

Detailed Definition
Here tumbling describes clouds in active, swirling motion. The word is familiar, but in this elevated poetic setting it helps create a vivid image of the sky as moving and alive.
Example
Example in poetry:
“And joined the tumbling mirth / Of sun-split clouds” makes joy seem physically headlong; Tumbling water suggests motion that rolls, falls, and rebounds; “Tumbling children” can convey energetic disorder and play; The participial adjective turns movement into a vivid visual texture
Additional Notes
In “the tumbling mirth / Of sun-split clouds,” the word is used in a poetic, specialized image rather than ordinary physical movement.; Found in the poem, High Flight by John Gillespie Magee Jr.
Also Known As
falling cascading tumbling down
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