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# somersault

«somersault» in Mova's school dictionary: **A movement where you roll or flip your whole body head…** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 1 sentence of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

noun (a somersault, somersaults); verb (somersault, somersaults, somersaulted, somersaulting)

### meaning for a pupil

1) A movement where you roll or flip your whole body head over heels, forwards or backwards, on the ground or in the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#m1)

2) To do such a roll or flip. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#m2)

3) (of a vehicle or object) To turn over completely, end over end. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#m3)

4) A sudden complete change of opinion or plan. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#m4)

### sense in the lessons

In PE and gymnastics lessons pupils learn forward and backward somersaults safely on mats. In stories it shows play, excitement or a dramatic fall; «my stomach did somersaults» means feeling very nervous. In the news a car that «somersaulted» rolled over in a crash. Phrases: «do a somersault», «turn a somersault», «forward somersault», «stomach did somersaults».

### examples

- We learnt to do a forward somersault in PE today. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x1)
- The gymnast did a double somersault in the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x2)
- The children were turning somersaults on the grass. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x3)
- The diver somersaulted into the pool. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x4)
- My stomach did somersaults before the school play. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x5)
- The car somersaulted off the road, but nobody was badly hurt. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x6)
- Always do somersaults on a soft mat. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x7)
- The minister did a somersault and changed his mind completely. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x8)
- A few turned somersaults, others walked on their hands with their feet in the air. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/#x9)

### note

Spelling trap: «somer» not «summer»: somersault. Countable: «three somersaults». In many places children also say «forward roll» for a simple somersault on the ground. For safety, tuck your chin in and practise on mats with a teacher.

### In the corpora

- [Flips and somersaults on a trampoline can cause neck injuries; they should only be learned with a trained coach.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/73-trampolines-playgrounds-and-skate-parks/7/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «somersault» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/S/somersault/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.