somersault

noun

som·er·sault | \ ˈsə-mər-ˌsȯlt

variants: or less commonly summersault

Definition of somersault

: a movement (as in gymnastics) in which a person turns forward or backward in a complete revolution along the ground or in the air bringing the feet over the head also : a falling or tumbling head over heels

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Examples of somersault in a Sentence

The gymnast turned a somersault.

Recent Examples on the Web

Tumble and somersault to your heart’s content; then watch and photograph one of Phare’s amazing performances. — National Geographic, "Southeast Asia Family Journey: Vietnam to Cambodia," 12 June 2019 As the train pulled up to the game's familiar train station, the iconic hero landed from a somersault jump by dramatically unsheathing his massive Buster Sword. — Sam Machkovech, Ars Technica, "Final Fantasy VII Remake headlines Square Enix E3 event, gets March 2020 launch," 11 June 2019 His head tore away, pulling his body into a somersault and flipping him on his back. — Azad Cudi, Harper's magazine, "Long Shot," 10 Jan. 2019 Mohammadi kissed the ball, then stepped back, pointed upwards and then finally attempted a somersault throw-in. — SI.com, "WATCH: Iran Player Tries, Fails to Complete Flip Throw-In Against Spain," 20 June 2018 And this was during a defensive stalemate, before their game against Spain turned into an absolute batty defeat—complete with an oddball goal, a whistled off equalizer and even a somersault. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "Spain Overcomes Iran’s Stubborn Defense in the World Cup," 20 June 2018 Joan's younger childlike moves have now been replaced by a physicality represented in somersaults, cartwheels, kicks and twirls. — Robert Abele, latimes.com, "Bruno Dumont's 'Jeannette: The Childhood of Joan of Arc' riffs on future saint as proto-punk," 3 May 2018 Finn Murphy, Highlands Murphy nailed an inward 2 1/2 somersault dive to come from behind and claim the state title in 1-meter diving. — Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati.com, "Pool of champions: Here are the Greater Cincinnati area's swimming and diving champions," 22 Feb. 2018 There were a couple of times when goal scorers did somersaults. — Andrew Beaton, WSJ, "The World Cup of Boring Celebrations," 13 July 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'somersault.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.