flail

[fleyl]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flail ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle to one end of which is attached a freely swinging stick or bar.

a similar instrument used as a weapon of war.

verb (used with or without object)

to beat or swing with or as if with a flail.

Origin of flail

before 1100; Middle English fleil (noun), Old English flighel (probably misspelling of *flegil), cognate with Dutch vlegel, German Flegel < West Germanic *flagil- < Late Latin flagellum flail, Latin: whip, scourge. See flagellum

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for flailing

thrash, smash, smack, bash, knock, thwack, pummel, club, sock, maltreat, batter, lash, hit, whale, flog, slug

Examples from the Web for flailing

Contemporary Examples of flailing

The firing of a new executive brought in to shake up the flailing show is getting dead-movie-star tabloid coverage.
Behind the ‘Today’ Show’s Latest Meltdown
Lloyd Grove
November 20, 2014
But can a 22-year-old winning formula save a flailing system?
‘Mario Kart 8’ May Be Nintendo’s Shell-Throwing Savior
Alec Kubas-Meyer
May 26, 2014
What do you do when your political career is flailing and the election is only weeks away?
The Strange Texas Political Ad That Parodies Frozen
Ben Jacobs
May 7, 2014
A flailing genre seems revitalized, if “revitalized” means youth, though not female, or black, or openly gay talent.
Which Stephen Colbert Will We See on CBS?
Tim Teeman
April 10, 2014
Well, here we are again—the Democrats are ‘in disarray,’ flailing on Obamacare.
The Democrats Need to Stop Freaking Out About Obamacare and Take Charge
Michael Tomasky
November 14, 2013

Historical Examples of flailing

Desperately he tried to struggle loose, flailing with his legs—but useless.
Raiders Invisible
Desmond Winter Hall
He struggled, blind with fury, flailing his arms and kicking.
Shaman
Robert Shea
His cane had ceased its flailing; the crowd had partially ceased its uproar.
Counsel for the Defense
Leroy Scott
For these were the blocks that had formed the body of the monster of the hollow, its flailing arms.
The Metal Monster
A. Merritt
I thought I saw Norhala floating, clothed in shouting, flailing fires.
The Metal Monster
A. Merritt

British Dictionary definitions for flailing

flail

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 aboutwith arms flailing

Word Origin for flail

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

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for flailing

flail

15c., from flail (n.); originally "to scourge;" sense of "to move like a flail" is from 1874. Related: Flailed; flailing.

flail

"implement for threshing grain," c.1100, perhaps from an unrecorded Old English *flegel, which probably represents West Germanic *flagil (cf. Middle Dutch and Low German vlegel, Old High German flegel, German flegel), a borrowing of Late Latin flagellum "winnowing tool, flail," from Latin flagellum "whip" (see flagellum).

flailing in Medicine

flail

[flāl]

v.

To move vigorously or erratically; thrash about.

To strike or lash out violently.