[tram-puh-leen, tram-puh-leen, -lin] 
| 1. | a sheet, usually of canvas, attached by resilient cords or springs to a horizontal frame several feet above the floor, used by acrobats and gymnasts as a springboard in tumbling. |
| 2. | Nautical. a fabric deck stretched on the braces connecting the hulls of a catamaran or trimaran, resembling a gymnastic trampoline. |
| tram·po·line (trām'pə-lēn', -lĭn) n. A strong, taut sheet, usually of canvas, attached with springs to a metal frame and used for gymnastic springing and tumbling. [Spanish trampolín and Italian trampolino (Italian, from Spanish), from tràmpoli, stilts, of Germanic origin.] tram'po·lin'er, tram'po·lin'ist n. |
trampoline
An incredibly hairy technique, found in some HLL and program-overlay implementations (e.g. on the Macintosh), that involves on-the-fly generation of small executable (and, likely as not, self-modifying) code objects to do indirection between code sections. These pieces of live data are called "trampolines". Trampolines are notoriously difficult to understand in action; in fact, it is said by those who use this term that the trampoline that doesn't bend your brain is not the true trampoline. See also snap.
[The Jargon File]
(2003-03-26)
trampoline
an elevated, resilient webbed bed or canvas sheet supported by springs in a metal frame and used as a springboard for tumbling. Trampolining, or rebound tumbling, is an individual sport of acrobatic movements performed after rebounding into the air from the trampoline.
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pəˈlin