flail
Americannoun
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an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle with a freely swinging stick or bar attached to one end of it.
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a similar instrument used as a weapon of war.
verb (used without object)
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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 orabout ).
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)
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to thresh (grain) with a flail.
Together they managed to clear land, seed wheat, flail the grain by hand, and grind it into flour.
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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 orabout ).
Gasping and choking, he flailed a hand in my general direction.
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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
noun
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an implement used for threshing grain, consisting of a wooden handle with a free-swinging metal or wooden bar attached to it
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a weapon so shaped used in the Middle Ages
verb
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(tr) to beat or thrash with or as if with a flail
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to move or be moved like a flail; thresh about
with arms flailing
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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flailsimple
-
flailssimple
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have flailedperfect
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has flailedperfect
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am flailingprogressive
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are flailingprogressive
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is flailingprogressive
-
have been flailingperfect progressive
-
has been flailingperfect progressive
Past
-
flailedsimple
-
had flailedperfect
-
was flailingprogressive
-
were flailingprogressive
-
had been flailingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of flail
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 “flail,” Latin: “whip, scourge”; see flagellum
Explanation
To flail means to wave around wildly. If you are stranded on a deserted island and you see a ship in the distance, it’s a good idea to flail your arms in the air to get the captain’s attention. Flail originates with the Latin word flagellum, which is a whip. It is also related to the noun flail, a stick with a swinging attachment to it, used to thresh grain. As a verb, it most often refers to arms, but can also involve the whole body, especially if someone is a very wild dancer. Other things can flail as well. If someone admits that his business is flailing, it’s probably lacking direction and not doing very well.
Vocabulary lists containing flail
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
They scampered around the office looming above the Outdoor stage, while delighted fans on the ground watched them flail behind glass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 12, 2026
With the USA bats continuing to flail against Rodriguez, the Venezuelans doubled their lead in the top of the fifth inning.
From Barron's ● Mar. 18, 2026
Such small fry could easily flail or fail.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
As a beginner, I expected the arms and hands to flail around, knocking the blocks and cups around the room.
From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026
The sight of a tree at night flail of glowing Clabbert pustules, while decorative, attracted too many Muggles wishing to ask why their neighbours still had their Christmas lights up in June.
From "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by J.K. Rowling
The puppet scenes, bestowing a belated yet supremely deserved spotlight on Abuela Julia, are the most original and haunting aspect of a production that too often flails for effects.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2025
When he flails the way he did in the playoffs last year, it’s bound to raise suspicions that he’s distracted or not entirely invested in the sport in which he makes his living.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2024
Men wore black, rhythmically beating their chests in mourning or using flails to strike their backs.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 28, 2023
Even here, within the safe space of his own overlong and clangy movies, he flails for an identity.
From New York Times ● Mar. 16, 2023
They beat it out with flails, he and the woman together.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
As time passed and no government help appeared, del Giudice became exasperated and flailed at the rubble.
From Barron's ● Jun. 26, 2026
They attacked the game, while Rangers flailed wildly.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025
But throughout the 2025 Emmys telecast, the nice guy comic flailed in the deep end of a flop sweat pool.
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2025
Cooperation between the state commission and the Department of Air Force also seems to have flailed after the October meeting, with little agreement or communication between the two agencies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2025
It was a good plan, but when I tried to actually get my arm out of the mummy bag, I flailed around like a fish out of water, and nearly dislocated my shoulder.
From "Looking for Alaska" by John Green
"She came out with her two little arms flailing," family friend Rolando told AFP, asking to be identified by only his first name.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
Or maybe Becerra was, indeed, a feckless, flailing and thoroughly awful Cabinet member, deserving of scorn and shame.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
Messi toyed with United like a kid on the Playstation - twisting, turning, nutmegging defenders whose flailing white shirts might as well have been a call for surrender.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
Hannah Einbinder of “Hacks” stars as Kris, an indie-film director tasked to reboot a flailing horror franchise in the vein of “Friday the 13th.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
A few feet from her, the corpuscule staggered backward, flailing its long arms.
From "Shadowshaper" by Daniel José Older
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.
