TUMBLER

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does tumbler mean? 

• TUMBLER (noun)
  The noun TUMBLER has 4 senses:

1. a gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.

2. a glass with a flat bottom but no handle or stem; originally had a round bottom

3. 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. pigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground

  Familiarity information: TUMBLER used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• TUMBLER (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gymnast who performs rolls and somersaults and twists etc.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("tumbler" is a kind of...):

gymnast (an athlete who is skilled in gymnastics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumbler"):

turner (a tumbler who is a member of a turnverein)

Derivation:

tumble (do gymnastics, roll and turn skillfully)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A glass with a flat bottom but no handle or stem; originally had a round bottom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tumbler" is a kind of...):

drinking glass; glass (a container made of glass for holding liquids while drinking)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A movable obstruction in a lock that must be adjusted to a given position (as by a key) before the bolt can be thrown

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("tumbler" is a kind of...):

impediment; impedimenta; obstructer; obstruction; obstructor (any structure that makes progress difficult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tumbler"):

lever; lever tumbler (a flat metal tumbler in a lever lock)

pin; pin tumbler (cylindrical tumblers consisting of two parts that are held in place by springs; when they are aligned with a key the bolt can be thrown)

Holonyms ("tumbler" is a part of...):

lock (a fastener fitted to a door or drawer to keep it firmly closed)

Derivation:

tumble (roll over and over, back and forth)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Pigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Synonyms:

roller; tumbler; tumbler pigeon

Hypernyms ("tumbler" is a kind of...):

domestic pigeon (domesticated pigeon raised for sport or food)

Derivation:

tumble (roll over and over, back and forth)

 Context examples 

A small half-glass, put into a tumbler of water?

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

You will find an extra tumbler upon the sideboard, and there are cigars in the box.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Martin got two tumblers, and fell to reading the book of verse, Henry Vaughn Marlow's latest collection.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

“All of the particles charged well, and about two to five percent didn’t come out of the tumbler,” said Mendez Harper.

('Electric Sands' Cover Titan, VOA News)

As I bent forward, she put her tumbler on my knee to detain me, and said: Oh, Trot, Trot!

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

I had brought the customary liquor glasses, but Wolf Larsen frowned, shook his head, and signalled with his hands for me to bring the tumblers.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

“Hast never seen tumblers before?” asked the elder, a black-browed, swarthy man, as brown and supple as a hazel twig.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

We cracked off the necks of the bottles, poured the stuff out into tumblers, and were just tossing them off, when in an instant without warning there came the roar of muskets in our ears, and the saloon was so full of smoke that we could not see across the table.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Why you see, said the waiter, still looking at the light through the tumbler, with one of his eyes shut up, our people don't like things being ordered and left.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

He was content to see his friend's cadaverous face opposite him through the steam rising from a tumbler of toddy.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)