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flail
[ fleyl ]
noun
- an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle with a freely swinging stick or bar attached to one end of it.
- a similar instrument used as a weapon of war.
verb (used without object)
- 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 or about ):
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)
- to thresh (grain) with a flail:
Together they managed to clear land, seed wheat, flail the grain by hand, and grind it into flour.
- 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 or about ):
Gasping and choking, he flailed a hand in my general direction.
- 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
- (of a limb or joint of the body) having excessive or abnormal mobility due to loss of muscle control as the result of injury or disease:
The orthopedist studied hundreds of cases of post-polio flail shoulder.
flail
/ fleɪl /
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 about
with arms flailing
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of flail1
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Example Sentences
These layoffs are helping contribute to flailing consumer sentiment about the economy, which in itself could contribute to a recession.
Her teens had been so sheltered, she was left flailing as she entered adulthood and began experimenting with sex and alcohol.
At first, when the model knows nothing about moving, the body flails around as it tries out random motions.
The two ground huggers mostly flailed ineffectively in the wind.
Vance is flailing in a race that many here in Washington thought was his to lose.
He begins to flail and exhaust himself before submerging for good.
The younger boy has gone under the river, and the girl continues to flail in the older boy's arms.
My wife, at least, enjoys watching me flail about on our elliptical.
He is going to have to work hard not to flail around aimlessly, following the lead of congressional Democrats.
Watching them squirm is more fun than watching Romney and Paul Ryan flail away.
Even if poverty were gone, the flail could still beat hard enough upon the grain and chaff of humanity.
The farmer caught up a huge flail with which he was wont to thresh out his oats.
Raoul, whose flail had made even De Carnac give way, turned to follow, but Richard was on him.
Arms some had, but arms none used; for Trenchefer dashed them down as the flail smites, ere one could raise or draw.
He struck a poor man for a trifling word, with a flail, which proved fatal to the unoffending object.
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