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tumblehome

tumblehome

1 9.9
An inward curve of a ship's sides that slopes toward the top
  • noun
  • Specialized
: curvatura
  • With a noticeable tumblehome, this yacht not only looks good but also improves its aerodynamics.

Examples

  • The boat's elegant design features a smooth tumblehome, enhancing both aesthetics and stability on the water.

  • From the waterline to the gunwale, it had a great deal of tumblehome—the boy in the stern and the man in the bow each sat upon both gunwales at once, and these were so close together that they kept one knee before the other.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • The architect incorporated a clever tumblehome in the boat's design for better performance during rough seas.

Synonyms

incurvature
vstumblehome
  • Specialized
1 9.9

A curve that bends inward

is the specific slope of sides toward the top on a vessel or object

Surface Forms

tumblehome singular
tumblehomes plural

Morphology

tumblehome = tumble + home (opaque) = tumble + home

Although clearly formed from the words 'tumble' and 'home', the term has a specialized nautical sense (inward slope of a hull) that is not predictable from the everyday meanings of the parts.

Etymology

Tumblehome is easy to remember: think of tumble 'to fall or lean' and home 'toward the inside', so the ship's sides seem to 'tumble home' and lean inward toward the deck. That's why tumblehome means the inward slope of a ship's sides.