tumbler

T1U1M3B3L1E1R1
US/ˈtʌmblɚ/

noun

One who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body.

“rock tumbler”

Similar
acrobatmixerrollertumbler pigeon
Less commonScrabble 11

Meanings

nountumbler (plural tumblers)

plural tumblers

  1. archaicOne who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body.

    […] the tricks of tumblers, funambuloes, baladines […]

    1605, Francis Bacon, “(please specify |book=1 or 2)”, in The Twoo Bookes of Francis Bacon. Of the Proficience and Aduancement of Learning, Diuine and Humane, London: […] [Thomas Purfoot and Thomas Creede] for Henrie Tomes, […], →OCLC
    1 more example

    […] and yokels looking up at the tinselled dancers and poor old rouged tumblers, while the light-fingered folk are operating upon their pockets behind.

    1848 June 28, William Makepeace Thackeray, “Before the Curtain”, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], →OCLC, page vii

    Synonyms: acrobat

  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 device for smoothing and polishing rough objects that are placed inside its rotating chamber.

    rock tumbler

  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 their measure.

    I poured out some whisky into a tumbler, and gave it to him.

    1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC
    1 more example

    "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.

    1919, W[illiam] Somerset Maugham, “chapter 46”, in The Moon and Sixpence, [New York, N.Y.]: Grosset & Dunlap Publishers […], →OCLC
  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. Something that causes something else to tumble.
  9. obsoleteA dog of a breed that tumbles when pursuing game, formerly used in hunting rabbits.
  10. ScotlandUKdialectalobsoleteA kind of cart; a tumbril.
  11. biologyThe pupa of a mosquito.
  12. One of a set of levers from which the heddles hang in some looms.
  13. obsoleteA porpoise.
  14. businessA service that mixes potentially identifiable or 'tainted' cryptocurrency funds with others, so as to obscure the audit trail; used for money laundering.
    1 more example

    The Department of Justice said it has arrested a Russian-Swedish national who allegedly operated a long-running cryptocurrency laundering site. According to a news release from the DOJ, Roman Sterlingov ran Bitcoin Fog, a cryptocurrency tumbler or “mixer”— which hides a cryptocurrency’s source by mixing it with other funds.

    2021 April 29, Kim Lyons, “Feds arrest founder of bitcoin ‘mixer’ they say laundered $335 million over ten years”, in The Verge

    Synonyms: mixer

Synonyms & antonyms

nounOne who tumbles; one who plays tricks by various motions of the body.

Similar

nounA service that mixes potentially identifiable or 'tainted' cryptocurrency funds with others, so as to obscure the audit trail; used for money laundering.

Similar

More synonyms by meaning

nounpigeon that executes backward somersaults in flight or on the ground

Similar
rollertumbler pigeon
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*tūmōną
  2. Proto-West Germanic*tumbōn
  3. Old Englishtumbian
  4. Middle Englishtumben
  5. Middle Englishtumblen
  6. Englishtumble
  7. Englishtumbler

From tumble + -er.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Chinese Mandarin 玻璃杯, 翻翻鴿 /翻翻鸽
  • 玻璃杯 (bōlibēi)drinking glass without stem
  • 翻翻鴿 /翻翻鸽 (fānfāngē)variety of pigeon
  • 筋斗鴿 /筋斗鸽 (jīndǒugē)variety of pigeon
Esperanto glaso
  • glasodrinking glass without stem
Finnish haitta, juomalasi
  • haittamovable obstruction in lock
  • juomalasidrinking glass without stem
French tumbler
  • tumblerdrinking glass without stem
German Trinkglas, Tumbler
  • Trinkglasdrinking glass without stem
  • Tumblerdrinking glass without stem
  • Glasbecherdrinking glass without stem
  • Tümmlervariety of pigeon
Greek ποτήρι
  • ποτήρι (potíri)drinking glass without stem
Hungarian pohár, vizespohár
  • pohárdrinking glass without stem
  • vizespohárdrinking glass without stem
Italian nottolino, cilindro
  • nottolinomovable obstruction in lock
  • cilindromovable obstruction in lock
  • percussorepart of a gunlock
  • bicchieredrinking glass without stem
  • piccione tombolierevariety of pigeon
Japanese タンブラー, グラス
  • タンブラー (tanburā)drinking glass without stem
  • グラス (gurasu)drinking glass without stem
Korean 텀블러, 글라스
  • 텀블러 (teombeulleo)drinking glass without stem
  • 글라스 (geullaseu)drinking glass without stem
Polish szklanka, kulawka
  • szklankadrinking glass without stem
  • kulawkadrinking glass without stem
Portuguese copo
  • copodrinking glass without stem
Russian кулачо́к, стака́н
  • кулачо́к (kulačók)movable obstruction in lock
  • стака́н (stakán)drinking glass without stem
  • го́лубь-верту́н (gólubʹ-vertún)variety of pigeon
Spanish seguro, vaso de lados rectos
  • seguromovable obstruction in lock
  • vaso de lados rectosdrinking glass without stem
  • tumbler (túmbler)drinking glass without stem
  • volatinerodrinking glass without stem
Swedish glas, dricksglas
  • glasdrinking glass without stem
  • dricksglasdrinking glass without stem
  • tumlaredrinking glass without stem
Tamil டம்ளர்
  • டம்ளர் (ṭamḷar)drinking glass without stem
Thai จอก
  • จอก (jɔ̀ɔk)drinking glass without stem
Turkish bardak
  • bardakdrinking glass without stem
Welsh tymbler
  • tymblerdrinking glass without stem
Yiddish קעלישעק
  • קעלישעק (kelishek)drinking glass without stem

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with tumbler

All rhymes →

Sounds the same

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

tumbler. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbler

MLA

“tumbler.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbler. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tumbler,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tumbler.

Source: tumbler on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.