to flail
6
7.6
- verb
- /fleɪl/
- NSFW
:
golpear
- I turned suddenly to the right, flailing with my forearm to knock the barrel of the gun out of battery.
- arms flailing
- fists flailed
- flailed away
Examples
-
At the door of the Pagoda, a badly beaten Amsterdam starts flailing and fighting by brute instinct.
Fiction book (2002) -
The Sheriff, armed and mounted, flails at Will, who, unarmed, dodges in and around the horse's legs.
Fiction book (1991) -
Snatching 'em up in your web, like a wolf spider, and watching 'em flail before you kill 'em.
-
He will also flail his arms and smack me in the face.
-
Rick beat the phone against the dash, flailing away until the case cracked.
Fiction book (1995) -
Bonnie made a theatrical flailing gesture with the palms of her hands.
Fiction book (1995) -
Sam charges wildly at the couch and begins flailing uncontrollably at the two of them.
Fiction book (1990) -
Bull joins the fray, charging like his namesake, howling in rage, flailing at heads with his quarterstaff.
Fiction book (1991) -
He got frustrated and started to flail his arms while trying to explain his point.
-
After slipping on the ice, she flailed her arms to regain her balance.
Synonyms
60
3.9
To move something quickly from side to side
46
6.7
Hit something many times, usually with your fists
23
8.8
To hit someone repeatedly with a heavy stick or club
19
7.7
To hit someone or something very hard many times
7
6.5
Hit someone hard, often as punishment or in a fight
2
7.3
To hit something or someone very hard
1
9.9
To hit someone or something hard
1
9.3
To hit someone or something again and again with your fists
Hit someone hard as a punishment
To hit someone or something very hard, often many times
Antonyms
Phrasal Verbs
How Violent
Surface Forms
Etymology
Flail can also mean to hit or thrash, because people used a flail to beat grain, so the word came to mean 'to beat or thrash' someone or something repeatedly.