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handspring

[ hand-spring ]

noun

  1. an acrobatic feat in which one starts from a standing position and wheels the body forward or backward in a complete circle, landing first on the hands and then on the feet, without contact by the rest of the body.


verb (used without object)

, hand·sprang, hand·sprung, hand·springing.
  1. to perform a handspring.

handspring

/ ˈhændˌsprɪŋ /

noun

  1. a gymnastic feat in which a person starts from a standing position and leaps forwards or backwards into a handstand and then onto his feet
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


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Word History and Origins

Origin of handspring1

First recorded in 1870–75; hand + spring
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Example Sentences

Her eponymous front handspring double twist was the single best vault in the final.

Soviet legend Natalia Yurchenko, who innovated the roundoff-back handspring entry vault, was injured in the vault final and had to withdraw from the remaining three finals.

It requires explosive power pushing off the vault—backward, no less, after a roundoff and back handspring—to flip twice, with the legs in a pike position, before -landing.

From Time

Yurchenko debuted the vault in an international competition in 1982, and this entry with a round-off back handspring has carried her name since.

Other vaults require a gymnast to perform a front handspring onto the table.

The next moment he executed a handspring into the midst of the natives, almost upsetting one of them.

The tub went down, and Charlie turned a handspring in the hot suds and came up covered with foam and wet clothes.

Well have no end of good times, said Bob, trying to turn a handspring on the grass, but tumbling down in the effort.

Monsieur Call bowed to everyone, including little Artaban, who acknowledged his courtesy by executing a handspring.

Had he not been on his skates he would have attempted a handspring in the exuberance of his spirits.

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handspikehandstand