an awkward, usually unintentional dive in which the front of the body strikes the water horizontally, the abdomen or chest bearing the brunt of the impact.
a maneuver with a sled in which the sledder runs with the sled to gain momentum and jumps forward to land on top of the sled as it moves through the snow.
a failure; flop.
to do a belly flop, as in diving or sledding.
to land or throw oneself heavily down on one's belly.
so tired he just belly-flopped on the bed.
a dive into water in which the body lands horizontally
another name for belly landing
First recorded in 1890–95
First recorded in 1930–35
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
In fact, they discovered, this particular sequence of movements — curl up, jump, finish with a belly flop — is not unusual among other worm-shaped organisms that jump, including caterpillars and fly larvae.
From New York Times ● Jun. 20, 2024
Anyone who's ever done a belly flop into a swimming pool knows it ends with a blunt-sounding splat, a big splash and a searing red sting.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2023
In Switzerland, he was rescued by scuba divers who pulled him unconscious from a lake after a belly flop.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 24, 2023
Sierra saw Winker’s belly flop for the ball and kept on running, not settling for a triple and looking for his first career big league home run.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 5, 2022
I look away but not before my stomach does a belly flop.
From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish
You can make a splash, but sometimes belly-flop.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2023
Foraging Mason bees belly-flop from bloom to bloom, gathering pollen all over their bodies.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 18, 2023
To watch Corey belly-flop through a variety of apertures cut into insulation boards is to relive a misspent youth, in under 60 seconds.
From The Guardian ● May 26, 2020
In the midst of deli-mania, why did District eateries On Rye and DGS Delicatessen — the latter’s chopped liver wowed even The Washington Post’s Tom Sietsema — belly-flop within months of each other last year?
From Washington Post ● Sep. 21, 2018
Actually, it was more like a crazed belly-flop, and all the air was sucked out of me as I hit the water at a funny angle.
From "The Lions of Little Rock" by Kristin Levine
If you've ever belly-flopped into a pool, then you know: water can be surprisingly hard if you hit it at the wrong angle.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2023
“You can’t be the same,” says Grubb, UW’s first-year offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, facing a group that belly-flopped to a 4-8 finish last fall.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 22, 2022
FEG’s price had belly-flopped from its high in May.
From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2021
Then he belly-flopped into the mud pit to tackle Depp as the crowd erupted into a roar.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2018
I put my sketch pad so close to Fred that when I belly-flopped onto the rug, I could have knocked him out.
From "The Line Tender" by Kate Allen
It too can return to Earth, belly-flopping through the atmosphere before pivoting to a vertical orientation for landing.
From New York Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
During the “Hakuna Matata” number, Pumbaa isn’t happily belly-flopping into a lagoon, nor is Simba awkwardly trying to swing in after him.
From The Verge ● Jul. 11, 2019
He aborted the Bulls’ second possession by belly-flopping onto the basketball as soon as Rose lost control for a steal.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 23, 2014
It’s a family of six chopping up a roadkill deer for dinner, belly-flopping in the mud, and—those with delicate constitutions may want to avert their eyes for this next part—farting in public.
From Slate ● Aug. 24, 2012
Later in the first period, Ovechkin nearly scored one of his YouTube-ready, "How did he do that?" goals, somehow managing to lift the puck past Lundqvist while belly-flopping onto the ice.
From Newsweek ● May 10, 2012
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.
