tumbler

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. One that tumbles, especially an acrobat or gymnast.
2. n. A drinking glass, originally with a rounded bottom.
3. n. A flat-bottomed glass having no handle, foot, or stem.
4. n. The contents of such a drinking glass.
5. n. A toy made with a weighted rounded base so that it can rock over and then right itself.
6. n. One of a breed of domestic pigeons characteristically tumbling or somersaulting in flight.
7. n. A piece in a gunlock that forces the hammer forward by action of the mainspring.
8. n. The part in a lock that releases the bolt when moved by a key.
9. n. The drum of a clothes dryer.
10. n. A tumbling box.
11. n. A projecting piece on a revolving or rocking part in a mechanism that transmits motion to the part it engages.
12. n. The rocking frame that moves a gear into place in a selective transmission, as in an automobile.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A wheel or drum with revolving paddles, used in tanning hides.
2. n. One who tumbles; one who performs by turning somersaults, walking on the hands, etc., as a mountebank.
3. n. One of the religious sect known as Dunkers. See Dunker.
4. n. A breed of domestic pigeons which perform certain aërial evolutions called tumbling, during which they fall through the air for a distance before making play with their wings. This performance is an exaggeration of the sweeping or gyrating flight characteristic of wild pigeons, and an approach to it may be shown by any pigeons, when, for example, a hawk dashes into a flock. Tumblers have a short round head with high forehead and very short beak. They are classed in two series, those bred to flight and those bred to color. The former are the ordinary or flying tumblers, most noted for their performances in mid air: some are even trained to tumble in a room. Some tumblers, known as Oriental rollers, are noted for leaving the flock individually and rising to execute the movement Tumblers bred to color without special reference to their flight are of many strains, known by color-names, black, red, or yellow mottle, red or yellow agate, almond-splash, etc.
5. n. A kind of greyhound formerly used in coursing rabbits: so called in allusion to his characteristic motions and springs.
6. n. A porpoise.
7. n. The aquatic larva of a mosquito, gnat, or other member of the Culicidæ; a wriggler: so called from the manner in which they roll over and over in the water.
8. n. A figure or toy representing a fat person, usually a mandarin, sitting with crossed legs. The base of the figure is rounded, so as to rock at a touch.
9. n. One of a band of London reckless profligates in the early part of the eighteenth century.
10. n. A drinking-glass. One with a rounded or pointed bottom, so that it may not be set down without being emptied and inverted.
11. n. A sort of spring-latch in a lock which detains the bolt so as to prevent its motion until a key lifts it and sets the bolt at liberty.
12. n. Same as tumbling-box.
13. n. In a gun-lock, a piece of the nature of a lever, attached to the pivot of the hammer of the lock, and swiveled to the tip of the mainspring, which, when the hammer is released by pulling the trigger, forces the hammer violently forward, causing it to strike and explode the charge. See also cut under gun-lock.
14. n. A form of printing-machine which rocks or tumbles to the impression-surface.
15. n. Nautical, one of the movable pins for the engagement of the cat-head stopper and shank-painter. These pins, moving simultaneously, release the ends of the cat-stopper and shank-painter, thus letting go the anchor.
16. n. In weaving, any one of a set of levers (also called coupers) from which in some forms of loom the heddles are suspended.
17. n. Same as tumbrel, 1.

Wiktionary

1. n. One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body; an acrobat.
2. n. 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. n. 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.
4. n. 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.
5. n. A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for its habit of tumbling, or turning somersaults, during its flight.
6. n. A beverage cup, typically made of stainless steel, that is broad at the top and narrow at the bottom commonly used in India.
7. n. obsolete A dog of a breed that tumbles when pursuing game, formerly used in hunting rabbits.
8. n. UK, Scotland, dialect, obsolete A kind of cart; a tumbrel.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body; an acrobat.
2. n. 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. n. (Firearms) 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 the sear point to enter.
4. n. A drinking glass, without a foot or stem; -- so called because originally it had a pointed or convex base, and could not be set down with any liquor in it, thus compelling the drinker to finish his measure.
5. n. (Zoöl.) A variety of the domestic pigeon remarkable for its habit of tumbling, or turning somersaults, during its flight.
6. n. (Zoöl.) A breed of dogs that tumble when pursuing game. They were formerly used in hunting rabbits.
7. n. Prov. Eng. & Scot. A kind of cart; a tumbrel.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. a gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.
2. n. a glass with a flat bottom but no handle or stem; originally had a round bottom
3. n. a movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown
4. n. pigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground