tumble up
C1 informal inseparable intransitive
In simple words
To get up quickly and clumsily, or (on a ship) to hurry up onto the deck.
Literal meaning: To roll or fall in an upward direction.
Meanings
1 C1 informal
To rise from a lying or sitting position in a clumsy, hasty manner.
"He tumbled up out of bed when he heard the alarm and rushed to the door."
Grammar: inseparable
2 C1 neutral
(nautical, dated) To come up onto the deck of a ship quickly, usually in response to an order.
"The boatswain shouted for all hands to tumble up immediately."
Grammar: inseparable
Usage notes
Rare in modern everyday speech. The nautical sense ('all hands tumble up!') appears in older naval literature. The general sense of rising clumsily survives in informal use but is uncommon.
Commonly used with
deck stairs bed quickly crew morning
Forms
Base
tumble up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
tumbles up
he/she/it
Past simple
tumbled up
yesterday
Past participle
tumbled up
have + pp
-ing form
tumbling up
continuous
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