rough and tumble

See also: rough-and-tumble

English

Noun

rough and tumble (plural rough and tumbles)

1. Alternative spelling of rough-and-tumble
   • 1947, Leslie Wood, Nikolaĭ Nikolaevich Evreinov, Harry Alan Towers, Leslie Scott Mitchell, The March of the Movies, page 174:

     Everyone fought in these rough and tumbles for the mastery of what was to become one of the world's largest industries.

Adjective

rough and tumble (comparative more rough and tumble, superlative most rough and tumble)

1. Alternative spelling of rough-and-tumble

Verb

rough and tumble (third-person singular simple present rough and tumbles, present participle rough and tumbling, simple past and past participle rough and tumbled)

1. Alternative spelling of rough-and-tumble
   • 1932, James T. Farrell, Young Lonigan:

     They clinched again, tumbled onto the grass, rough and tumbled, with first one and then the other on top, socking away.

   • 2000, Herb Goldberg, The Hazards of Being Male: Surviving the Myth of Masculine Privilege, page 63:

     Daddy holds, hugs, kisses, and caresses his young daughter but he rough and tumbles, throws around, and mock fights with his little son.