somersault

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somersault

, summersault

a. a forward roll in which the head is placed on the ground and the trunk and legs are turned over it

b. a similar roll in a backward direction

2. an acrobatic feat in which either of these rolls are performed in midair, as in diving or gymnastics

Collins Discovery Encyclopedia, 1st edition © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.

Somersault

a circus stunt and one of the most common elements of floor acrobatics and gymnastics. A somersault is a jump in which the heels are turned over the head as the body rotates in the air; it is executed without support. There are forward, backward, and side somersaults. Somersaults may also be classified as single or double.

References in periodicals archive ?

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The program they developed then solved all the torques that needed to be applied to each joint, from each individual motor, and at every time period between start and end, in order to carry out the backflip.

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But before long they began to wonder whether the robot could take on even higher-impact manoeuvres, and set about programming the mini cheetah to perform a backflip.

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Quitongo said: "My mum and dad have been giving me a wee bit about the backflip. Now I'd call it the Conor McGregor walk!" A brilliant run from Quitongo set up the opener for Ross Forbes after 16 minutes and he rattled a superb shot in off the bar four minutes later but Queens hitman Derek Lyle reduced the deficit within a minute.

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He said the clown had been doing the backflip stunt for more than 10 years without any accidents.

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In spite of her back injury, Smith decided to celebrate in an unusual way for a weightlifter - by doing a backflip on the mat.

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