flapper

[ flap-er ]
See synonyms for flapper on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. something broad and flat used for striking or for making a noise by striking.

  2. a broad, flat, hinged or hanging piece; flap.

  1. a young woman, especially one who, during the 1920s, behaved and dressed in a boldly unconventional manner.

  2. a young bird just learning to fly.

  3. Slang. the hand.

Origin of flapper

1
First recorded in 1560–70; flap + -er1

Other words from flapper

  • flap·per·dom, noun
  • flap·per·ish, adjective
  • flap·per·ism, noun

Words Nearby flapper

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use flapper in a sentence

  • The sick man moved a hand, weakly, as though it were the yellow flapper of some wounded amphibian.

    The Shadow | Arthur Stringer
  • The motor chugged slowly up Broadway, nosing for a path about a slowly driven truck; the flapper looked back.

    Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson
  • Now in his hot rage he included the flapper in the glare he put upon her unconscious father.

    Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson
  • But during pauses in the afternoon's work the island vision became blurred by the singular energies of the flapper.

    Bunker Bean | Harry Leon Wilson

British Dictionary definitions for flapper

flapper

/ (ˈflæpə) /


noun
  1. a person or thing that flaps

  2. (in the 1920s) a young woman, esp one flaunting her unconventional dress and behaviour

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