flipper
a broad, flat limb, as of a seal or whale, especially adapted for swimming.
Also called fin. one of a pair of paddlelike devices, usually of rubber, worn on the feet as an aid in scuba diving and swimming.
Theater. a narrow flat hinged or attached at right angles to a larger flat.
Slang. the hand.
someone or something that flips.
Origin of flipper
1Words Nearby flipper
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use flipper in a sentence
With the hook from its dangling metal cable attached to him, the duck moved into the open doorway, his legs and flippers hanging off the side.
What it’s like to rescue someone at sea from a Coast Guard helicopter | Rob Verger | July 20, 2021 | Popular-ScienceTheir giant flippers let them swim through the water like a penguin.
Let’s learn about dinosaurs’ fearsome neighbors | Sarah Zielinski | July 6, 2021 | Science News For StudentsIt’s also ignited fierce competition between flippers angling for “hits,” or the most valuable cards.
Zimmerman couldn’t fathom rebuilding when she knew the home would flood again, and selling it to a flipper felt wrong, because eventually it would just end up in the hands of another unsuspecting buyer enticed by a newly refurbished home.
The Climate Real Estate Bubble: Is the U.S. on the Verge of Another Financial Crisis? | Graphics by Emily Barone | April 19, 2021 | TimeHomes are destroyed, but buyers are undeterred—whether because of the influence of home flippers, a lack of reliable information about a home’s risk, or simple carelessness.
The Climate Real Estate Bubble: Is the U.S. on the Verge of Another Financial Crisis? | Graphics by Emily Barone | April 19, 2021 | Time
“The flipper is a living object, and you never play the same game on it,” says Colin.
Paris Cafes Lose Their Pinball Machines, as Numbers Dwindle | Solène Cressant | July 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTSteel balls caromed around the table as the player massaged, tickled, pressed, and slammed the flipper buttons.
Paris Cafes Lose Their Pinball Machines, as Numbers Dwindle | Solène Cressant | July 13, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTOne of them realizes she is paid less as a part-time employee of PEN than she would be as a burger-flipper or a car-wash girl.
Looks like the only thing ready to come with him in this "real" moment is a fish named flipper.
We throw some pennies to another group, and the one nearest the coin picks it up by making a scoop of his flipper-like palm.
Gardens of the Caribbees, v. 1/2 | Ida May Hill StarrI'm not sure that a seal's flipper might not be acceptable by to-morrow morning.
Left on Labrador | Charles Asbury StephensNow and again one would lazily lift a flipper to scratch itself or heave its great bulk into a more comfortable position.
The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas MawsonAnd with that I givd the flipper a big squaze, and a big squaze it was, by the powers, that her leddyship giv'd to me back.
The Works of Edgar Allan Poe | Edgar Allan PoeOf these, Lieutenant flipper was dismissed June 30, 1882, for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."
British Dictionary definitions for flipper
/ (ˈflɪpə) /
the flat broad limb of seals, whales, penguins, and other aquatic animals, specialized for swimming
Also called: fin (often plural) either of a pair of rubber paddle-like devices worn on the feet as an aid in swimming, esp underwater
cricket a ball bowled with backspin imparted by the action of the bowler's wrist
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
Scientific definitions for flipper
[ flĭp′ər ]
A wide, flat limb adapted for swimming, found on aquatic animals such as whales, seals, and sea turtles. Flippers evolved from legs.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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