How to use rumble in a sentence

36 example sentences · noun, verb, interjection

Rumble means a low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach. Example: “The rumble from passing trucks made it hard to sleep at night.”

Examples of rumble by meaning

nounA low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach.

The rumble from passing trucks made it hard to sleep at night.

verbTo make a low, heavy, continuous sound.

If I don't eat, my stomach will rumble.
I could hear the thunder rumbling in the distance.
I watched him take his seat on the third row from the front, and I heard him rumble, “Nearer my God to thee,” some notes behind the rest of us.1960 July 11, Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Philadelphia, Pa.; New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, →OCLC

verbTo discover deceitful or underhanded behaviour.

The police is going to rumble your hideout.

verbTo move while making a rumbling noise.

The truck rumbled over the rough road.
As the train rumbled slowly over the Forth Bridge, the western sky was aflame with a particularly gorgeous sunset, and lights were twinkling from the small craft riding at anchor on the calm waters of the firth.1950 January, Arthur F. Beckenham, “With British Railways to the Far North”, in Railway Magazine, page 8
Henderson, beginning a mini-run in the team with David de Gea on paternity leave, threw out to the left flank and Shaw had only one thought – to rumble upfield.2021 March 7, David Hytner, “Manchester United catch City cold as Fernandes and Shaw end winning run”, in The Guardian

More sentences with rumble

Every time we hear the rumble of the storm, we think and hear the tornado happening.2024 February 19, Jennifer M. First, Megan Carnahan, Mansoo Yu, Sangwon Lee, J. Brian Houston, quoting anonymized tornado survivor…. From the entry tornado brain
Right up from the south it rumbled, though it wasn't dropping any rain yet.2010, Nancy E. Turner, Sarah's Quilt. From the entry likesome
His ears twitched, and I felt a rumble go through his fur.2009, Tui Sutherland, Bulldog Won't Budge, page 145. From the entry purry
He laughs a deep laugh that rumbles up from somewhere in his drumskin stomach.2004, Troy Blacklaws, Karoo Boy, page 78. From the entry mossie
Once the potatoes have been rumbled they require 'eyeing' with a turning knife or hand peeler.1996, Food Preparation and Cooking, page 418. From the entry eye
Wedged into the rumble seat was my broken-down valise with everything I possessed in the world.1980, E. L. Doctorow, Loon Lake, New York: Random House, page 129. From the entry broken-down valise
I'd been in plenty of rumbles, but somehow, I'd never cooled anyone.1965, "Sex Jungle" (narrated in Perversion for Profit). From the entry cool
Crabbe's uneasiness passed: it was pure breakfastlessness, he decided, hearing a comforting rumble from the pit.1959, Anthony Burgess, Beds in the East (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 589. From the entry breakfastlessness
Thunder rumbled and a light rain rashed down as Bella shoveled the pile of loose dirt back into the ground.2024 May 7, David Ciminello, The Queen of Steeplechase Park, Forest Avenue Press, →ISBN. From the entry rash
The train rumbled between narrow buildings with flat roofs and multicoloured walls, Telugu script crawling like creepers over them.2019, Namwali Serpell, The Old Drift, Hogarth, page 497. From the entry Telugu
The underside of the fuselage rumbled, as undermounted cannon dropped, targetted, and started firing rounds in a high-pitched rat-a-tat-tat.2017, Ben Coes, Trap the Devil, New York: St. Martin’s Press, page 432. From the entry undermounted
The rumble of machinery is replaced by the slipslop of the sea against the hull and the splutterings of the VHF.2005, Bella Bathurst, The Wreckers: A Story of Killing Seas, False Lights and Plundered Ships. From the entry slipslop
They let the good times roll and rumble.2005, David Kettle, Elephant Gnosis, page 80. From the entry pachydermal
The house rumbled seismically at the heavy fall.1956, Anthony Burgess, Time for a Tiger (The Malayan Trilogy), published 1972, page 183. From the entry seismically
They had all, to a man and woman, been rumbled, like so many Winnie The Poohs with their hands in Rabbit's honey pot.2013, Douglas Lindsay, The End Of Days, Blasted Heath Ltd, page 11. From the entry Winnie the Pooh
She rumbled through her dresser drawer finding an old pair of sweats with a sports bra and tank top sliding into them quickly.2012, Nicety [pseudonym], “Worship”, in Killing Me Softly, Chicago, Ill.: Black Cherry Publishing, →ISBN, pages 235–236. From the entry suited and booted
Pietro Gandolfo, inside the old sedan, rumbled by, hidden by the dunes and the early morning qobar, dry fog of the Nile.2010, Charles Barnett, Iscariot, page 265. From the entry qobar
“This used to be where the contractors kept their heavy equipment,” Lester rumbled, aiming a car door remote at the door, which queeped and opened.2009, Cory Doctorow, Makers, Macmillan, page 22. From the entry queep
Easily the busiest bus line in the Metro transit system, buses rumble up and down Grand Boulevard every 10 minutes throughout much of the day.2009 March 29, David P. Dillard, “TRANSPORTATION: PUBLIC URBAN AND PASSENGER : UNITED STATES: CITIES: SAINT LOUIS, MISSOURI: Metro Cuts…. From the entry bus line
Our windows were open, and inside the wind and rumble of heat lightning, I could hear Albert's horses nickering in the darkness.2008 July 8, James Lee Burke, Swan Peak: A Dave Robicheaux Novel, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN, page 307. From the entry heat lightning
“Having your tongue torn out, and your throat cut across,” he rumbles, recalling words memorized on a New York City rooftop 38 years ago.1998 May 25, David Van Biema, “Endangered Conspirators”, in Time, volume 151, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the…. From the entry nostalgically
As students all over the United States knuckle down to learning, the rumble of war drums once more proclaims Mars high man in Europe.1939 November 10, “Following The War”, in The Chart, volume I, number 1, Joplin, Missouri: Joplin Junior College, page 4, column 1. From the entry World War II
In the early dark hours, as armored vehicles rumbled across the border and warplanes filled the skies, people were sleeping, bathing, making love, video-gaming, soothing a sick child.2023 February 19, Laura King, “War stories: ‘All of us were changed’”, in Los Angeles Times, page A1. From the entry video-game
She installs seven skeps at the furthest edge of the garden; on warm July days it is possible to hear the restless rumble of the bees from the house.2020, Maggie O'Farrell, Hamnet. From the entry skep
As armoured personnel carriers rumbled on to Bangkok's deserted streets, thousands of troops fanned out in a cordon across the city, surrounding the redshirts' fortified protest camp.2010 May 19, Ben Doherty, “Thai soldiers arrest protest leaders in bloody 'final crackdown'”, in The Guardian. From the entry redshirt
With a rumble of hooves and an ululant war cry, the double column broke into a gallop the stone bridge just as the first German dive-bombers appeared overhead.2007, Rick Atkinson, The War in North Africa, 1942–1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy, page 181. From the entry ululant
The motor rumbled alive; there was a smell of shoepolish and gasoline as the plane turned, gathered its bulk, and headed for the broad road to heaven.1973, Nancy Willard, Childhood of the Magician, New York, N.Y.: Liveright, →ISBN, page 194. From the entry shoepolish
As the car drew closer the sound of the engine became a deep diesely rumble and I realised that it wasn't a car at all – it was a truck.2007, Mardi McConnochie, Melissa, Queen of Evil, →ISBN. From the entry diesely

Meaning of rumble

noun A low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach.
noun A street fight or brawl.
noun A rotating cask or box in which small articles are smoothed or polished by friction against each other.

Full definition of rumble

Questions about rumble in a sentence

How do you use rumble in a sentence?: Rumble is used as a noun, verb and interjection. For example: “The rumble from passing trucks made it hard to sleep at night.”
What is a short sentence with rumble?: “The truck rumbled over the rough road.”
What does rumble mean?: Rumble means a low, heavy, continuous sound, such as that of thunder or a hungry stomach.

Adapted from Wiktionary: rumble (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use rumble in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/rumble. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.