0 (of a building) in a very bad condition, especially in a state of decay:
a tumbledown cottage
1 (of a building) in a bad condition, esp. in a state of decay:
He lived in a tumbledown shack and had survived on a small payment that he received after the accident and by visiting soup kitchens.
It alludes, firstly, to the fortunes and environmental effects of both intensive and 'tumbledown' arable farming.
They are uncomfortable, tumbledown places, and certainly not places for us to visit for a holiday.
All they were asking for was the renewal of the tumbledown, damp and disgraceful building, in which they carry out their excellent operations.
But this postmaster is living in a tumbledown old house with the village post office attached.
Those built in the rural areas are often much more tumbledown.
I had vacant possession of a rather tumbledown building which clearly needed considerable renovation.
It has an outside lavatory in a tumbledown decrepit backyard and, almost needless to say, it has no bathroom.
