Making a deep, rolling sound like distant thunder or a truck, or a complaint or protest starting to develop.
From Middle Low German 'rummelen,' likely imitative of the sound itself. The word likely came from Dutch traders and became common in English in the 1500s.
Like many onomatopoeia (sound-imitation words), 'rumble' exists in many languages because the sound is similar everywhere—German 'Rummel' and Dutch 'rommelen' show how traders spreading the word across Europe recognized the same sound.
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