flipper
Americannoun
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flippers
plural
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a broad, flat limb, as of a seal or whale, especially adapted for swimming.
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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.
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Theater. a narrow flat hinged or attached at right angles to a larger flat.
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Slang. the hand.
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someone or something that flips.
noun
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the flat broad limb of seals, whales, penguins, and other aquatic animals, specialized for swimming
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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
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cricket a ball bowled with backspin imparted by the action of the bowler's wrist
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of flipper
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:
The three-bedroom, one-bath home was dilapidated before an out-of-state house flipper fixed it up, she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
One ex-house flipper said he’d experimented with 50 AI-generated business ideas before landing on one he liked.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In fact, as with Porkchop, it was wound tightly around her front right flipper.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2026
"I picked it up and thought I saw a movement in one flipper, so I carried it back to the campsite".
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2026
When it turned I reached for its hind flipper, but as soon as I touched it I recoiled in horror.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
Multiple accounts we've checked ourselves show young people in wetsuits and flippers, or filming themselves already swimming, mixed with pictures from inside Ceuta itself.
From BBC ● Aug. 2, 2026
Buoys and flippers still littered the ground along the fence, while others floated in the water.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
People hunting for primary homes, flippers and investors looking for potential rental properties are all bidding, he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026
If customers sell those SpaceX shares within 15 days of the IPO, they will be flagged as flippers.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 11, 2026
The leathery skin at the head end of the shell was easy cutting, except around the flippers.
From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel
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.
