Tump

Q: Is it always accidental?

Almost always. Tump implies an unexpected spill, not an intentional action.

In Appalachian and Southern speech, tump means to tip over, spill, or overturn, usually by accident and often suddenly.

#SouthernWords #Appalachia #OldTimers #Southern

synonyms: tip over, overturn, spill, topple

Hillbilly Dude Says...

I never heard 'tump' growin' up that I remember, I've only read it (although my Dad could have said it, it sounds familiar). Might be a little more regional.

Hillbilly Dude Says...

I never heard 'tump' growin' up that I remember, I've only read it (although my Dad could have said it, it sounds familiar). Might be a little more regional.

Pronunciation

[TUMP]
/tʌmp/

Meaning & Usage

- To tip or fall over (verb)

Mae:

Quit rockin’ that chair, you’re fixin’ to tump clean out of it.

Elmer:

Ain’t my fault the dumb thing’s got one leg shorter’n the others.

variations: tump over, tump out

★ If something’s wobbly, stacked high, or left on a slanted porch rail, a Southerner won’t say it’ll "fall." They’ll say it’ll tump. ★

Origin and Etymology

Documented in the Southern and South Midland regions by the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE) and in Appalachian sources such as the Dictionary of Smoky Mountain English. Likely formed as a blend of "tip" and "dump." Earliest recorded uses appear in the late 19th and early 20th centuries across Tennessee, Kentucky, the Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, and Arkansas.

Usage Notes

The verb tump is still widely used in rural Southern and Appalachian communities, especially in contexts involving unstable containers, furniture, wagons, buckets, or children prone to leaning too far back in chairs. While some non-Southerners may recognize the word through diffusion, it remains strongly marked as a regional verb.

Common structures: "tump over," "tump out," "tump into the ditch."
Typical subjects: chairs, buckets, wheelbarrows, toddlers, overloaded trucks.
Register: informal, rural, conversational; rarely appears in edited writing.
Contrast: "fall over" is general English; "tump" is regionally distinctive.

Kin Topics

Common Questions

Is it always accidental?

Almost always. Tump implies an unexpected spill, not an intentional action.

Do non-Southerners use it?

Rarely. It appears occasionally where Southern/Appalachian speech has diffused, but it remains a recognized dialect marker.

Is it considered proper?

It’s informal, but not incorrect - simply regional.

How to Cite This Page

APA (7th edition)
The Hillbilly Dude. (2025, December 2). Tump. HillbillySlang.com. https://www.hillbillyslang.com/definitions/tump
MLA (9th edition)
"The Hillbilly Dude." "Tump." HillbillySlang.com, 2 Dec. 2025, https://www.hillbillyslang.com/definitions/tump.
Chicago (17th edition)
The Hillbilly Dude. "Tump." HillbillySlang.com. December 2, 2025. https://www.hillbillyslang.com/definitions/tump.