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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 orabout ).
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 orabout ).
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
/ ڱɪ /
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
51Թ History and Origins
51Թ History and Origins
Origin of flail1
Example Sentences
As the crowd bounced, Cocker flapped across the stage like a washing line in a stiff breeze, his arms flailing and pointing at random.
Particularly in comedy, we want to see our characters get into jams for the pleasure of watching them wildly flail about trying to get out of them.
His fastball was more than a tick down from his season average as he flailed with his command early.
He suffered a punctured lung, spine fractures and a fractured pelvis as well as a flail chest, where multiple broken ribs cause the chest wall to become unstable and interfere with breathing.
However, the young goalkeeper looked badly at fault as Victor Palsson's header bypassed his flailing arms for the third.
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