backflip
Americannoun
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backflips
plural
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a backward somersault.
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a dive executed by somersaulting backward.
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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:
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
There are various types of flips that have unique names that don't spell out exactly what the trick contains - including wildcat, tamedog, backflip, frontflip, rodeo, backside rodeo and corked spin.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
Thanks in part to skaters like France's Surya Bonaly - who performed the move illegally but successfully at Nagano 1998 - the backflip is now legal again.
From BBC ● Feb. 13, 2026
Spotlights following him, he scampered to the nearest spiral staircase, slid down the banister, and dismounted with an impressive backflip.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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
And while Ohtani and Judge can be counted on for multiple home runs, only the Bananas deliver baby races, a dancing umpire and backflips before balls are caught in the outfield.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 3, 2025
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 used to imitate my brother by swinging high and doing backflips off that play set, soaring through the air.
From "Courage to Soar" by Simone Biles
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
To collect weevils en masse, Dr. Painting held an ice cream container under the tree, waved her hand, and watched as the weevils simultaneously backflipped into the container.
From New York Times ● Aug. 13, 2021
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
When Spotify backflipped on its conduct policy, it released a statement: “We don’t aim to play judge and jury ... our role is not to regulate artists.”
From The Guardian ● Jan. 31, 2019
Feste backflipped out and Ella thumped them again, but faster this time.
From "The Marvellers" by Dhonielle Clayton
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
Despite that news, CBS showed Richardson backflipping during pregame workouts.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 18, 2021
Definitions 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.
