[no obj., with adverbial of direction]overbalance or become unsteady and fall slowly 失去平衡,不稳而缓慢倒下 she toppled over when I touched her. 当我碰她时,她就倒了下来。 ■[with obj.]cause to fall in such a way 使倒下 the push almost toppled him to the ground. 他几乎被推倒在地上。 disagreement had threatened to topple the government. 分歧使政府面临倒台的威胁。 ■[with obj.]remove (a government or person in authority) from power; overthrow 推翻(政府,当权人);打倒 disagreement had threatened to topple the government. 分歧使政府有被推翻的危险。
语源
mid 16th cent. (in the sense 'tumble about'): frequentative of top