tombstoning

noun, verb

tombstoning is spelled T-O-M-B-S-T-O-N-I-N-G: 11 letters. It appears about once in every 81 million words in written English, the 286,585th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tombstoning means “The practice of jumping into the sea or similar body of water from a cliff or other high point such that the jumper enters the water vertically…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in tombstoning?

Letters	11: T-O-M-B-S-T-O-N-I-N-G
In writing	about once in every 81 million words; the 286,585th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is tombstoning?

Tombstoning appears about once in every 81 million words in written English, the 286,585th most frequent word form in the list.

tombstoning0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

What does tombstoning mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

1
UKThe practice of jumping into the sea or similar body of water from a cliff or other high point such that the jumper enters the water vertically straight, like a tombstone.
2
The process of (automatically) initiating software sleep mode on an app.
3
An unwanted effect in the manufacture of electronic circuit boards, in which a component stands up on end instead of lying flat.
4
In page layout, putting articles side by side so that the headlines are adjacent (also referred to as bumping heads), or so that headline from one article is adjacent to the photo from another.
5
In highway driving, a blockage in traffic caused by a semi-trailer truck attempting to pass another with insufficient acceleration.
6
The practice of leaving a marker in a location where a digital record has been withdrawn, in order to signify that the record had previously existed.
7
A tombstone pattern on an electrocardiogram.

verb

1
present participle and gerund of tombstone (a form of tombstone)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tombstoning in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
German	Kliffspringen (diving off of a cliff), Grabsteineffekt (unwanted effect in which a component stands up…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does tombstoning come from?

From tombstone + -ing.