Roll
Roll verb - To make a series of unsteady side-to-side motions.
Usage example: the car suddenly was rolling as high winds swept across the bridge
Tumble is a synonym for roll in toss topic. In some cases you can use "Tumble" instead the word "Roll" as a verb or a noun, when it comes to topics like billow, rock.
How words are described
| good | good roll | good tumble |
| long | long roll | long tumble |
| simple | simple roll | simple tumble |
| small | small roll | small tumble |
| Other adjectives: big, little, occasional. | ||
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- It is indeed stable - the center of gravity is low so the skydiver will not tumble or roll in that position.
Source: Variable Terminal Velocity - The first Dizzy game made use of an engine for rotating sprites in real time, allowing the hero to roll and tumble.
Source: Serendipity Writes the Plot -
In Dungeons & Dragons Online any character with ranks in the tumble skill can hold SHIFT while pressing move, to do a roll instead of normal movement.
Source: Unnecessary Combat Roll
Cite this Source
Tumble and Roll. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/roll/tumble
Roll & Tumble. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/roll/tumble>.
Tumble or Roll. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/roll/tumble.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "roll" and "tumble" have occurred on timeline