rumpeln

From Middle High German rumpeln, from Middle Low German rumpelen, ultimately onomatopoeic iteratives.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈʁʊmpl̩n]

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: rum‧peln

rumpeln (weak, third-person singular present rumpelt, past tense rumpelte, past participle gerumpelt, auxiliary haben or sein) (intransitive)

1. (often impersonal) to make a low-pitched thudding or tumbling sound (often with a degree of irregularity) [auxiliary haben]

   Synonym: poltern

2. to rumble (to move with a heavy, low-pitched sound) [auxiliary sein]

   Synonym: poltern

   • 1911, Erwin Rosen [pseudonym; Erwin Carlé], Der Deutsche Lausbub in Amerika [The German prankster in America], page 198:

     Es war in einem kleinen Städtchen nicht weit von La Junta in Colorado. Der Frachtzug rumpelte in dem prachtvollen Sommermorgen dahin, hielt, rumpelte wieder hin und her. Und dann war Ruhe.

     It happened in a small town not far from La Junta in Colorado. In the beautiful summer morning, the freight train rumbled onwards, now stopping, then rumbling back and forth again. And then there was quiet.

• Rumpeln evokes the sounds caused by heavy things banging into each other while tumbling or vibrating at a lower frequency. Typical examples of causing such sounds include a washing mashine, a vehicle moving over uneven ground, or the operation of heavy machinery in general. The sound is typically considered part of the background noise, unlike poltern, which tends to be violent enough to draw attention to itself.

• entrümpeln

• “rumpeln” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “rumpeln” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon
• “rumpeln (poltern, rütteln, fahren)” in Duden online
• “rumpeln (waschen, knittern)” in Duden online
• “rumpeln” in OpenThesaurus.de