somersaulting

som·er·sault also sum·mer·sault  (smr-sôlt)

n.

1. An acrobatic stunt in which the body rolls forward or backward in a complete revolution with the knees bent and the feet coming over the head. Also called somerset; also called regionally tumbleset.

2. A complete reversal, as of sympathies or opinions.

intr.v. som·er·sault·ed also sum·mer·sault·ed, som·er·sault·ing also sum·mer·sault·ing, som·er·saults also sum·mer·saults

To execute a somersault.

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[Obsolete French sombresault, variant of sobresault, from Old Provençal sobresaut : sobre-, above (from Latin supr; see uper in Indo-European roots) + saut, leap (from Latin saltus, from past participle of salre, to leap; see sel- in Indo-European roots).]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

somersaulting - an acrobatic feat in which the feet roll over the head (either forward or backward) and return flip, somersault, summersault, summerset, somerset tumble - an acrobatic feat of rolling or turning end over end flip-flop - a backward somersault