see verb sense 2; to take a tumble to oneself = to take oneself to task; to kick oneself (q.v.); to tumble to the racket (Am. pol.), see Racket; to tumble on one's feet = to escape without injury, to come out on top (q.v.).
1843. Dickens, Chuzzlewit, xxviii. Mr. Bailey . . . giving Jonas a shake, cried, 'We've got home, my flower! Tumble up then.'
1890. New York Evg. Post [Century], 29 Jan. To give the name of legislation to the proceedings at Albany . . . would be an abuse of language. The proper name was 'tumbling to the racket.' The Assembly passed the bill without debate . . . much as they might pass a bill authorising a man to change his name.
Tumbler, subs. (old).—In various
colloquial or semi-colloquial
usages denoting instability or
eccentric movement. Thus (1)
a glass rounded or pointed at the
bottom, so that it could not be
set down except when empty—a
silent reminder of 'no heeltaps!'
and to 'pass the bottle': orig. 'a
low Silver Cup to Drink out of
(B. E., c. 1696): nowadays
applied to any glass that is
cylindrical in shape, without a
stem; (2) a variety of pigeon:
in flight the bird often drops
without wing-play; (3) a dog
used in coursing rabbits, 'a Coney
Dog' (B. E.): it tumbles about
in a careless fashion until, within
reach of its prey, it seizes it with
a sudden spring; (4) a porpoise;
(5) a variety of printing machine:
from the rocking or tumbling
movement of the cylinder towards
the impression surface; etc. etc.
1616. W. Browne, Britannias Past., ii. 4. I have seene a nimble tumbler . . . Bend cleane awry his course, yet give a checke And throw himselfe upon a rabbit's necke.
1635. Swan, Spec. Mundi, ix. 1. The tumbler and lurcher ought to be reckoned by themselves.
1707. Farquhar, Beaux's Stratagem, iv. 2. The plate stands in the wainscot cupboard. Ay. Knives and forks, and cups and cans, and tumblers and tankards.
1837. Dickens, Pickwick, lii. Mr. Stiggins, walking softly across the room to a well-remembered shelf in one corner, took down a tumbler, and with great deliberation put four lumps of sugar in it.
1862. Thackeray, Philip, xxxviii. She . . . reminds him of days which he must remember when she had a wine-glass out of poor Pa's tumbler.
1885. D. Tel., 17 Nov. The little tumbler flashing downward in the sunlight is something to watch and admire.
1901. Walker, In the Blood, 262. 'Arf our 'ard-earned money goes that way. It's melted inter pewter pots an' tumblers.
6. (Old Cant).—A cart: properly 'tumbrel.' Whence to nap the flog at (or to shove) the tumbler = to be whipped at the cart's-arse (B. E. and Grose): see Shove, adding quot. 1721.
1721. Remarkable Tryals, 2. He was ordered to shove the tumbler.
1815. Scott, Guy Mannering, viii. Behind them followed the train of laden asses and . . . tumblers.
7. (old).—'A sharper employed to draw in pigeons to game' (B. E. and Grose).
8. (turf).—A worthless horse; a screw (q.v.).
9. (old).—A German Baptist or Dunker. [The sect was founded by Alexander Mack about A.D. 1708. Persecution drove them in 1723 to the United States, where they founded a church at a German town in Pennsylvania. They separate the sexes in worship, are vegetarians, and are
