English
tumbler
Pronunciation
  • (America) IPA: /ˈtʌmblɚ/
Noun

tumbler (plural tumblers)

  1. (archaic) One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body; an acrobat.
    • 1605, Francis Bacon, The Advancement of Learning
      […] the tricks of tumblers, funambuloes, baladines […]
  2. A movable obstruction in a lock, consisting of a lever, latch, wheel, slide, or the like, which must be adjusted to a particular position by a key or other means before the bolt can be thrown in locking or unlocking.
  3. A rotating device for smoothing and polishing rough objects, placed inside it, on relatively small parts.
  4. A piece attached to, or forming part of, the hammer of a gunlock, upon which the mainspring acts and in which are the notches for sear point to enter.
  5. A drinking glass that has no stem, foot, or handle — so called because such glasses originally had a pointed or convex base and could not be set down without spilling. This compelled the drinker to finish his measure.
    • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, chapter 46
      "You don't think it's too early?" said the Captain.
      "You and your liver must decide that between you," I replied.
      "I'm practically a teetotaller," he said, as he poured himself out a good half-tumbler of Canadian Club.
  6. A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for its habit of tumbling, or turning somersaults, during its flight.
  7. A beverage cup, typically made of stainless steel, that is broad at the top and narrow at the bottom commonly used in India.
  8. (obsolete) A dog of a breed that tumbles when pursuing game, formerly used in hunting rabbits.
  9. (UK, Scotland, dialect, obsolete) A kind of cart; a tumbril.
  10. The pupa of a mosquito.
  11. One of a set of levers from which the heddles hang in some looms.
  12. (obsolete) A porpoise.
  13. (cryptocurrency) A service that mixes potentially identifiable or 'tainted' cryptocurrency funds with others, so as to obscure the audit trail.
Related terms Translations Translations Translations Translations
  • German: Tümmler
  • Italian: piccione tomboliere
  • Russian: го́лубь-верту́н


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