tumbler

[ tuhm-bler ]
See synonyms for tumbler on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a person who performs leaps, somersaults, and other bodily feats.

  2. (in a lock) any locking or checking part that, when lifted or released by the action of a key or the like, allows the bolt to move.

  1. a stemless drinking glass having a flat, often thick bottom.

  2. (in a gunlock) a leverlike piece that by the action of a spring forces the hammer forward when released by the trigger.

  3. Machinery.

    • a part moving a gear into place in a selective transmission.

    • a single cog or cam on a rotating shaft, transmitting motion to a part with which it engages.

  4. a tumbling box or barrel.

  5. a person who operates a tumbling box or barrel.

  6. one of a breed of dogs resembling a small greyhound, used formerly in hunting rabbits.

  7. Also called roller. one of a breed of domestic pigeons noted for the habit of tumbling backward in flight.

  8. a toy, usually representing a fat, squatting figure, that is weighted and rounded at the bottom so as to rock when touched.

  9. a tumbrel or tumble cart.

Origin of tumbler

1
1300–50; Middle English: acrobat; see tumble, -er1. Compare Low German tümeler drinking-cup, kind of pigeon

Words Nearby tumbler

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use tumbler in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for tumbler

tumbler

/ (ˈtʌmblə) /


noun
    • a flat-bottomed drinking glass with no handle or stem. Originally, a tumbler had a round or pointed base and so could not stand upright

    • Also called: tumblerful the contents or quantity such a glass holds

  1. a person, esp a professional entertainer, who performs somersaults and other acrobatic feats

  1. another name for tumble dryer

  2. Also called: tumbling box a pivoted box or drum rotated so that the contents (usually inferior gemstones) tumble about and become smooth and polished

  3. the part of a lock that retains or releases the bolt and is moved by the action of a key

  4. a lever in a gunlock that receives the action of the mainspring when the trigger is pressed and thus forces the hammer forwards

    • a part that moves a gear in a train of gears into and out of engagement

    • a single cog or cam that transmits motion to the part with which it engages

  5. a toy, often a doll, that is so weighted that it rocks when touched

  6. (often capital) a breed of domestic pigeon kept for exhibition or flying. The performing varieties execute backward somersaults in flight

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