topple

«topple» in Mova's school dictionary: to become unsteady and fall over, or to push something so… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (topple, topples, toppled, toppling)

meaning for a pupil

1) To topple is to become unsteady and fall over, or to push something so that it falls. tree →

2) To topple a leader or government means to make them lose power. tree →

sense in the lessons

In science lessons it is used about balance and stability: a tall tower with a narrow base topples easily, and a wide base helps it stand. In play, a tower of blocks topples. In history and news, people topple rulers. Phrases: «topple over», «topple down», «be toppled».

examples

• The tower of blocks toppled over. tree →
• The strong wind toppled the old tree. tree →
• Don't stack the cups so high or they will topple. tree →
• A wide base stops a tower from toppling. tree →
• The vase toppled off the shelf and broke. tree →
• The cat toppled the pile of books. tree →
• The people toppled the cruel king. tree →
• Then the ogre fell down and broke his crown, and the beanstalk came toppling after. tree →

note

Regular verb: toppled, toppling. Can be used with or without an object: «the tower toppled» or «the wind toppled the tower». Toppling means falling from standing, especially something tall.

In the corpora

• Standing still on a bike you topple at once, but when you ride you hardly have to think.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «topple» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.