FLAIL Definition & Meaning

View synonyms for

flail

[ fleyl ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle with a freely swinging stick or bar attached to one end of it.
a similar instrument used as a weapon of war.

verb (used without object)

to move about randomly and wildly:
Running down to the lake I hit a patch of mud and found myself flailing all over the path, arms and legs flying.
to make desperate or unproductive attempts to respond to a challenging problem, awkward situation, etc. (usually followed by around or about ):
He makes things worse by flailing about with administrative solutions to educational problems he doesn't understand.
For six years the government flailed, proposing one ineffectual program after another.

verb (used with object)

to thresh (grain) with a flail:
Together they managed to clear land, seed wheat, flail the grain by hand, and grind it into flour.
to beat, strike, attack, etc., repeatedly with or as if with a flail:
I flailed the water with a variety of lures for hours, and caught three bass.
The infantry closed in while artillery support flailed the enemy positions.
to move (a limb, one’s body, etc.) randomly and wildly (often followed by around or about ):
Gasping and choking, he flailed a hand in my general direction.
to swing (something) about as if using a flail:
She violently flailed the flare around, trying to catch the attention of the figure on the hill.

adjective

(of a limb or joint of the body) having excessive or abnormal mobility due to loss of muscle control as the result of injury or disease:
The orthopedist studied hundreds of cases of post-polio flail shoulder.

flail

/ �ڱ��ɪ�� /

noun

an implement used for threshing grain, consisting of a wooden handle with a free-swinging metal or wooden bar attached to it
a weapon so shaped used in the Middle Ages

verb

tr to beat or thrash with or as if with a flail
to move or be moved like a flail; thresh about
with arms flailing

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of flail¹

First recorded before 1100; Middle English fleil (noun), Old English flighel (probably misspelling of unattested flegil ), cognate with Dutch vlegel, German Flegel, from unattested West Germanic flagil-, from Late Latin flagellum “f��,” Latin: “whip, scourge”; flagellum

Discover More

51�Թ� History and Origins

Origin of flail¹

C12 fleil , ultimately from Late Latin flagellum flail, from Latin: whip

Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Man Utd and Spurs, two traditional giants, are in the bottom half of the table and flailing wildly.

From

The more prestigious Russell Group of research-rich universities have gone after the students that would previously have gone to middle-ranking institutions, leaving the latter financially flailing.

From

However, away from the House of Commons the SNP MP was "flailing through life" and became ill through depression and anxiety, she has told the BBC.

From

Her backing was considered pivotal in reviving what had appeared to be a flailing nomination.

From

And then they certainly could have stolen the Super Bowl from the flailing Kansas City Chiefs.

From

Related 51�Թ�s

Browse