topple

verb

top·​ple ˈtä-pəl 

toppled; toppling ˈtä-p(ə-)liŋ 

intransitive verb

: to fall from or as if from being top-heavy

transitive verb

1

: to cause to topple

2

a

: overthrow sense 2

topple a dictator

b

: defeat sense 1

Synonyms

• fall
• slip
• stumble
• trip
• tumble

Examples of topple in a Sentence

The strong winds toppled many trees.

The earthquake toppled the buildings.

The tree toppled into the river.

The rebels tried to topple the dictator.

The phone company has toppled its local competition.

Recent Examples on the Web

Huffman fired the starting gun last month on a series of challenges to septuagenarian committee leaders by launching an insurgent bid to topple incumbent ranking member Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.). —Andrew Solender, Axios, 16 Dec. 2024

Photos of the week In pictures: Syrian rebels topple Assad regime 1 of 52 Check out more images, curated by CNN Photos. —Andrew Torgan, CNN, 15 Dec. 2024

The political affairs office of the Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, the rebel group that led the lightning offensive to topple Assad's government, said the group had secured the release of U.S. citizen Travis Timmerman. —Democrat-Gazette Staff From Wire Reports, arkansasonline.com, 13 Dec. 2024

The classic worry among Western foreign policy watchers was that Assad might be toppled but replaced by something that is not much better: an extremist terror group. —Alexander Smith, NBC News, 11 Dec. 2024

Word History

Etymology

frequentative of top entry 3

First Known Use

1590, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense

Kids Definition

topple

verb

top·​ple ˈtäp-əl 

toppled; toppling -(ə-)liŋ 

1

: to fall over from being too heavy at the top

2

: to push over