backflip
Americannoun
-
backflips
plural
-
a backward somersault.
-
a dive executed by somersaulting backward.
-
Informal. a complete reversal in attitude or policy.
Some committee members did sudden backflips, urging spending cuts instead of expanded programs.
verb (used without object)
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of backflip
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It features the first bicycle backflip caught on film.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 18, 2026
Walton appeared on Steve Harvey's television show aged 11 to showcase his boxing ability, throwing combinations on the pads before also demonstrating his gymnastics skills with a backflip.
From BBC ● Sep. 26, 2026
In the bond world that is grandma doing a backflip off the garage roof.
From MarketWatch ● May 21, 2026
They always do a backflip when I say I have new music.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 25, 2026
I feel like doing jumping jacks or a backflip or participating in an ice cream–eating contest.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
With his backflips, one-handed cartwheels and quadruple-jumps galore, US figure skater Ilia Malinin's rip-roaring routines have proved a star attraction at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
From Barron's ● Feb. 12, 2026
Figure skating has a long, complicated relationship with backflips, which were ruled illegal almost immediately after someone did one at the 1976 Games.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
But "the backflips on working from home and his uncertainty over public service cuts," complicated his message, according to John Warhurst, Emeritus Professor, Australian National University.
From BBC ● May 3, 2025
I jump at every opportunity to do backflips in the pool and absolutely love seeing the circus when it’s in town.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
Whenever my parents argue, Haley always starts doing backflips, handsprings, and cartwheels because she knows how much they hate it when she does gymnastics in the house and she thinks it will distract them.
From "A High Five for Glenn Burke" by Phil Bildner
The closest it has come to the Games was when Fotheringham memorably performed in the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Paralympics, when he rode down a giant ramp and backflipped through a flaming hoop.
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2025
But then a Banana got on base and Maceo Harrison, the dancing first base coach, backflipped in the coaches box.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2023
The gold medalist Olympian casually backflipped and tossed a strike over the plate in front of 40,000 people.
From Washington Post ● Oct. 23, 2019
He backflipped and shouted, “I love you!” to his family, God, Tom Cruise and anyone else he could think of.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2018
Dominick yelled from the dark before running into the spotlight and turning to face us as he backflipped into the quarry.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
Chinese humanoid pioneer Unitree, whose backflipping robots wowed the world this year, made a much-anticipated market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday with a similarly impressive leap in share price of more than 600 percent.
From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026
Since the last Olympics, this jumping, spinning, backflipping sensation had lorded over figure skating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
He amassed nearly 400 videos showing great apes and other primates engaged in spinning behaviors, including somersaulting, rolling down hills, backflipping and pirouetting.
From New York Times ● Apr. 26, 2023
Boston Dynamics created internet buzz with videos of its humanoid robots running, jumping, backflipping and dancing.
From Reuters ● Sep. 20, 2022
A champion volleyball player in high school, she knew she could do a backflipping “moonsault” like Lita, but she didn’t see herself glammed up for the cameras.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 9, 2018
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
