Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun An acrobatic stunt in which the body rolls forward or backward in a complete revolution with the knees bent and the feet coming over the head.
- noun A complete reversal, as of sympathies or opinions.
- intransitive verb To execute a somersault.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun A spring or fling in which a person turns heels over head; a complete turn in the air, such as is performed by tumblers.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A leap in which a person turns his heels over his head and lights upon his feet; a turning end over end.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun In
gymnastics , an act where thegymnast turnshead over heels - verb To perform a somersault.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head (either forward or backward) and return
- verb do a somersault
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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“I know a lot of people are in somersault land,” Representative Rahm Emanuel, Democrat of Illinois and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said reproachfully of fellow Democrats.
October 2006 2006
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Except he just did some kind of somersault which looked much more agile than anything anyone would have expected of him.
Voice of the Fans: What's Your Most Memorable Convention Experience? 2010
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Apparently he decided to "somersault" off the bed in the middle of the night and ended up with a bloody nose.
It's all sunshine and roses around these parts jodifur 2008
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The National Party's "somersault" on the indemnity issue indicates that it has caved in to the African National Congress, the Conservative Party said in a statement in Pretoria on
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The youth leader said the SABC's "somersault" in deciding to continue screening the programme was evident of the corporation's weakness under pressure from the South African Communist Party and the ANC.
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From these more or less contemptuous views of mankind at large Mr. Channing turns with a kind of somersault to an intense admiration for Thoreau.
Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 33, December, 1873 Various
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I suppose she forgot to keep her neck thrown back, or to draw in her breath properly; at any rate, up went her heels, and down went her head, and she seemed suddenly to turn a kind of somersault in the water.
The Nicest Girl in the School A Story of School Life Angela Brazil 1907
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The thought roused him to still greater exertions, and at last by a heroic effort he succeeded in turning a kind of somersault in his cold prison, which had the happy result of putting his head where his heels had been.
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Chicory turned a rough kind of somersault as he caught sight of his brother sitting up and doing that which was dear to Chicory's own heart -- eating; and as there was a good share of food beside Coffee, the tired brother made no scruple about going to join him and help him eat.
Off to the Wilds Being the Adventures of Two Brothers George Manville Fenn 1870
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Look you, if you plant a bullet just below an Indian's navel, you will see him do a double somersault, which is more wonderful to behold than any circus performance you ever saw. "
sidheag commented on the word somersault
I've always loved how this word is spelled.
November 18, 2008
maesepedro commented on the word somersault
It's an excellent spelling from the point of view of creative misspellings:
summersalt - the type of salt especially suited to the months between June and September.
Sumassault - the total military force exerted at a particular point in the enemy's line at a particular time.
June 22, 2009