tumbler 
They are classed In two series, those bred to flight and 
those breil toeolor. Tiie former are tin- onlinan or Hying 
tumbles most noted for their pri f-.i luanre- in ini'l air: 
some are even trained tn tniulile in a r.i.mi. Some turn, 
filer*, known as Oriental rtilli-rit, are nnteii tor leaving the 
Hock individually and rising to execute tire movement. 
Tumbler* bred to color without special reference ti their 
flight are ot many *I rains, kmm n tn eolor-name.*. Muck, red, 
or yellmr nn'ltl'', rt'd or yellow ayale, aimoiut-Kplaith, etc. 
4. A kind of greyhound formerly used in cours- 
ing rabbits: so called in allusion to his charac- 
tei-islic iimtiiiiis ami springs. 
I have scene 
A nimble fini/lili'r on a burruw'il greene 
I'.en.l eleane, awry hi cnurse, yet give a checke 
And throw hirnselfe upon a rat>bit's neeke. 
W. tirou'ne, Britannia's Pastorals, 11. 4. 
5. A piM-poisr. [ Scutch.] 
Delphlnus I'hooonii, . . . Scot. 1'ellock. Tumbler. Mere- 
swine. 
I>T. Walker, Essays on Nat. Hist., p. 532. (Jamieton.) 
6. The aquatic larva of a mosquitOj gnat, or 
other member of the Culicidx; a wriggler: so 
called from the manner in which they roll over 
and over in the water. [Local, U. a.] 7. A 
figure or toy representing a fat person, usually 
a mandarin, sitting with crossed legs. The 
base of the figure is rounded, so as to rock at 
a touch. 
Her legs tucked up mysteriously under her gown Into 
a round ball, so that her figure resembled in shape the 
plaster tumblerg sold by the Italians. 
ilai/hrw, 1 .1 mill ni Labour and London Poor, II. 570. 
8f. One of a band of London reckless profli- 
gates in the early part of the eighteenth cen- 
tury. 
A third sort (of Mohocksl are the tmnblen, whose office 
it is to set women on their heads. 
SUele, Spectator, No. 324. 
9. A drinkiug-glass. (a) One with a rounded or 
pointed bottom, so that it may not be set down without 
being emptied and Inverted. (<V) One without stem or 
foot, simply cylindrical or conical in form. 
She ... reminds him of days which he must remember, 
when she had a wine-glass out of poor Pa's tumbler. 
Thackeray, Philip, xxxviii. 
10. A sort of spring-latch in a lock which de- 
tains the bolt so as to prevent its motion un- 
til a key lifts it and sets the bolt at liberty. 
11. Same as tumbling-boj:. 12. In a gun- 
lock, a piece of the 
nature of a lever, 
attached to the 
pivot of the ham- 
mer of the lock, 
and swiveled to 
the tip of the main- 
spring, which, 
when the ham- 
mer is released by , swivel-arm and uinl 
screw hole ; jf, cock-notch ; ft, half-cock 
notch. 
Tumbler. 
a, body ; t>, arbor 
the trig- 
fer, forces the 
ammer violently forward, causing it to strike 
and explode the charge. See also cut under 
gun-locK. 13. A form of printing-machine 
which rocks or tumbles to the impression-sur- 
face. [Eng.] 14. Naut., one of the movable 
pins for the engagement of the cat-head stop- 
per and shank-painter. These pins, moving simul- 
taneously, release the ends of the cat-stopper and shank- 
painter, thus letting go the anchor. 
15. In wearing, any one of a set of levers (also 
called coulters) from which in some forms of 
loom the heddles are suspended. 16. Same 
as tumbrel, 1. 
Behind them [the gipsies] followed the train of laden 
asses, and small carts, or tumblerg, as they were called In 
that country [south of Scotland |. 
Scott, Guy Mannering, vill. 
tumbler-brush (tum'bler-brush), n. A brush 
made for the special purpose of cleaning the 
inside of a tumbler or drinking-glass. 
tumbler-cart (tum'bler-kart), n. Same as tum- 
brel. 1. 
More recently tumbler carts with solid wheels, mere 
slabs of timber, were substituted. 
Quarterly Reo., CXLVI. 38. 
tumbler-dog (tum'bler-dog), n. A catch to hold 
the hasp of a padlock locked except when it 
enters the tumbler. Car-Builder's Diet. 
tumbler-drum (tum'bler-drnm), H. Same as 
The skins.are either trodden in it with the feet, or put 
Into a tumbler-drum. Workshop Receiptt, 2d ser., p. 878. 
tumblerful (tum'bler-ful). n. [X tumbler + -fnl.1 
The quantity of liquid which fills or nearly tills 
a tumbler: as. to drink a tumblerful of water. 
tumbler-glass (tum'bler-glas), n. Same as 
tumbler, it. 
tumbler-holder (tnm'bler-hol'der), . A cir- 
cular frame of metal with a handle, into which 
6527 
a glass of soda-water, etc., is set, for conve- 
nience in drinking. 
tumbler-lockUum'bler-lok), . A lock having 
a si- 1 ul 'ili-ksnr latches which must be arranged 
in some particular way with reference to one an- 
other before the bolt can be shot. It is a form 
of permutation-luck. See cut under lock. 
tumbler-punch (tum'bler-punch), w. In -///- 
Hniithiiiii, a small punch with two blades, used. 
in taking a gun apart, to remove the arbor of 
the tumbler, etc. 
tumbler-Stand (tum'bler-stand), n. A tray for 
tumblers, used with a soda-water fountain, etc. 
Some are fitted with appliances for washing the 
tumblers. Compare tunihler-icaslter. 
tumbler-tank (tum'blfer-tangk), n. In ]>/iunli- 
nii/, a (lush-tank in which an oblong tilting re- 
ceiving vessel pivoted midwise, and having a 
miilwisi- partition, is fitted and poised in such 
manner that when water runs into one of the 
compartments of the vessel a quantity must 
accumulate before it can tilt and discharge its 
contents, and in such manner that the tilt 
brings the opposite compartment into position 
to be filled. A considerable volume of water I* thus 
suddenly discharged at each tilting of the receiving ves- 
sel, although the stream affording the supply may be 
small. 
tumbler-washer (tum'bler-wosh'er), . A tum- 
bler-stand so contrived as to wash automati- 
cally the tumblers placed upon it. A usual form 
consists of a basin fitted with upright projecting pipes, on 
which the tumblers are hung bottom up, and from which 
jets of water escape into the tumblers, used with soda- 
water fountains, etc. 
tumbleweed (tum'bl-wed), n. A branching 
plant whose top assumes a globular figure and 
in autumn is detached and rolled over the plains 
by the wind, scattering its seed. The name is 
given to several such plants in the western United States. 
Species so called are Amarantus atbta (compare ffhogt- 
plant) and .1. btitoidet, Pitoralea laneeolata (Dakota and 
Montana), the bug-seed, Corispermum hyampi/olium, and 
the winged pigweed. Cycloloma platyphylla. Also called 
rolling-weed. 
The list of plants having the habit of rounding up their 
stems and branches so as to form a nearly spherical plant 
body, which at the end of the season breaks away at the 
root, thus forming a tumble-weed, must be Increased by 
adding the winged pig-weed. Amer. Nat., XXI. 929. 
tumbling (tum'bling), n. [Verbal n. of tumble, 
r.] The act of falling; also, the act of turn- 
ing somersaults, and the like ; specifically, the 
action of the tumbler pigeon in flight. 
tumbling (tum'bling), n. [< ME. tmcmblynge ; 
ppr. of tumble.'} Falling; fleeting; passing; 
transitory. 
Wolthow thanne trusten in the tmcmNtntye fortunes of 
men ? Chaucer, Boethius, fi. meter 3. 
tumbling-barrel (tum'bling-bar'el), n. See 
barrel. 
tumbling-bay (tum'bling-ba), >i. In hydraulic 
engin., that part of a weir in which the surface 
of the outflowing water assumes a downwardly 
directed curvilinear form. 
tumbling-bob (tum'bling-bob), H. In mack., a 
weighted arm or lever wnich, when moved to a 
certain point, reacts and by its weight produces 
movements in other parts of the machine. 
tumbling-box (tum'bling-boks), H. A box or 
cylindrical vessel of wood or iron, pivoted at 
each end or at two corners, so that it can be 
made to revolve. Small castings, shot, pens, needles, 
buttons, and similar objects are placed in the box, with a 
quantity of loose emery-powder, sand, sawdust, or other 
abradant, and when the box revolves the abradant and the 
objects fall or tumble over, rubbing against each other anil 
becoming quickly cleaned or polished. The device Is large- 
ly used In many manufactories to save labor in cleaning 
and polishing material of all kinds, and in mixing or dis- 
solving gums, etc. Also called, in various forms, tumbler 
or fleansiwj-inUl, tumble, tumbler-drum, tumbling-wheel, 
rolling-barrel, zcouriiig-barrel. 
tumbling-net (tum'bling-net), n. A trammel- 
net. 
tumbling-shaft (tum'bling-shaft), n. The cam- 
shaft used in stamping-mills, threshing-ma- 
chines, etc. E. H. Kiii</lit. 
tumbling-trough (tum'bling-trdf). . In the 
manufacture of sulphuric acid in the so-called 
cascade apparatus, a trough or box of pipe-clay 
constructed on the principle of the tumbler- 
tank for conveying nitric acid into the leaden 
chambers. 
tumbling- wheel (tum'bling-hwel), H. In 
miii'li.. a variety of the tumbling-box, used es- 
pecially for polishing wooden bobbins, shoe- 
|iei;s. etc. 
tumbly (tnm'Wi), a. [(tumble + -.'/ 1 .] Uneven, 
rough, humpy, or lumpy, as if full of debris 
which has tumbled upon'it; covered with loose 
rocks, as a sea-bottom or fishing-ground. 
tumidity 
tumbrel (tum'br<-l). n. [Also liiHibril, and for- 
merly tHHlltl-fll, tiiliinll; < MK. tnm/ii ri I. li ,1111, il. 
tiiiiiril, < UK. tiiHibn-ll. In in In ril. liiMilnrtl, tinii- 
Iniini. In nilii ruin, lnml,< nun. K. tuinlii-miH, a 
iliunp-ciirt. < tomlier, fall, tumble: see tmnli, 
luntlitr.] 1. A low cart lined by farmers for the 
removal of dung, etc.; a dung-cart. Thebodyof 
the cart was a separate box, sometimes called a MM 
(we wAiWii), In which the dung or other load was placed, 
to be dumped by upsetting the box. The name is often 
given to the carts used to convey the victims uf tin- French 
Revolution to the guillotine, but contemporary plates rep- 
resent these as large four-wheeled wagons. 
What stinking scavenger (if so he will, 
Though streets be fair) but may right easily fill 
His dungy tumbrel? Manton, Satires, IT. 13. 
Along the Paris streets the death-carts rumble hollow 
and harsh. Six tumbril* carry the day's wine to La (juillo 
tini'. IHckrm, Tale of Two Cities, ill. 15. 
A yoke of starveling steers, in a tutitbru cart, the wheels 
of which were funned from a solid block of wood. 
.V. Judd, Margaret, I. 4. 
2. A covered cart witli two wheels, which ac- 
companies artillery, for the conveyance of tools, 
ammunition, etc. 3. A chair fixed on a pair of 
wheels and having very long shafts, used to 
punish scolds. On Its being wheeled Into a pond back- 
ward, and suddenly tilted up, the woman was plunged Into 
the water. Compare cuckiivf-ntfiol and ducking-stool. 
In this town [Shrpton- Mallet, \V hitstone, Somersetshire] 
was anciently a tutnbrell or cucking-stool, set up ... In 
the time of Henry II I. for the correction of unquiet women. 
./. CoUinton, Hist. Somersetshire (ed. 1791), III. 480. 
4. A sort of circular cage or crib, made of osiers 
or twigs, used in gome parts of England for hold- 
ing food for sheep in winter. 
tumefacient (tu-me-fa'shient), a. Swelling: 
swollen. 
The Infant . . . had grown unctuous and tumefacieni 
under the kisses and embraces of half the hotel. 
Bret Harte, By Shore and Sedge, p. 73. 
tumefaction (tu-me-fak'shon), . [< F. tume- 
faction = Sp. tumefaction, { L. tumefacere, pp. 
tumefactiu, swell: see tumefy.'] 1. The act or 
process of swelling or rising into a tumor ; also, 
the condition of being tumefied or swollen. 2. 
That which is tumefied or swollen; a tumid 
part ; a tumor. 
The common signs and effects of weak fibres are pale- 
ness, a weak pulse, tume/actiont In the whole body or parts. 
Arbuthnot, Aliments, vi. 
tumefy (tu'me-fi), r. ; pret. and pp. tumefied, 
ppr. tumefying. [< F. tumefifr, cause to swell, 
<LL. "tumejicare, < L. tumefacere, cause to swell, 
< tumere, swell, + facere, make: see tumid and 
-/#] I. trans. To swell, or cause to swell or 
be tumid. 
To swell, tumefy, stiffen, not the diction only, but the 
tenor of the thought. 
H. intrana. To swell; become tumid. 
tumescence (tu-mes'eus), n. [< tumescen(t) + 
-c.] 1. The state of growing tumid; tumefac- 
tion. 2. A swelling, tumid part, or tumor; an 
intumescence. 
tumescent (tu-mes'ent), a. [< L. tnmescen(t-)g, 
ppr. of tiinitKcere, begin to swell or swell up, 
inceptive of tumere, swell: see tumid.'} 1. 
Swelling; tumefying; forming into a tumor; 
iiitumescent. 2. In bot., slightly tumid or 
swollen. 
tumid (tu'mid), a. [= Sp. ttimidn = Pg. It. tn- 
mido, < L. tumidux, swollen, swelling, < tumere, 
swell; cf. tumulus, a mound (see tumulun), Gr. 
riufiof, a mound (see tomb), Skt. tumra, swell- 
ing, standing out, V tu, swell, increase.] 1. 
Swollen ; slightly inflated ; tumefied : as, a ti<- 
mid leg; tumid flesh. 2. Protuberant; rising 
above the level. 
So high as heaved the tumid hills, so low 
Down sunk a hollow bottom broad and deep, 
Capacious bed of waters. Milton, P. L., Til. 288. 
3. Swelling in sound or sense ; pompous; bom- 
bastic; inflated: as, a tumid expression; a tu- 
mid style. 
A mind no way tumid, light, effeminate, confused, or 
melancholic. Bacon, Political Fables, v., Kxpl. 
The real poet, who is not driven by falling language or 
thought into frigid or tumid absurdities. 
Jt. W. Church, Spenser, II. 
Tumid wing, in ettiom., a wing in which the membrane 
of every cell is larger than the cell itself, so that it pro- 
jects slightly, as in the saw-flies. 
tumidity (tu-mid'i-ti). n. [< LL. tumiilita(t-)s. 
a swelling, a tumor, < L. tumidus, swollen: see 
tumid.] 1. The state or character of being 
tumid or swollen. 
The swelling diction of .Cschylns and Isaiah resembles 
that of Almanzor and Maxlmin no more than the tumidity 
of a muscle resembles tin- tinni'litii nf a boil. The former 
Is symptomatic of health and strength, the latter of debil- 
ity and disease. Mataulay, Dryden. 
