: a hand threshing implement consisting of a wooden handle at the end of which a stouter and shorter stick is so hung as to swing freely
flailed; flailing; flails
1
a
: to strike with or as if with a flail
The bird's wings flailed the water.
b
: to move, swing, or beat as if wielding a flail
flailing a club to drive away the insects
2
: to thresh (grain) with a flail
: to move, swing, or beat like a flail
arms flailing in the water
Examples of flail in a Sentence
Verb
They were flailing their arms to drive away the insects.
The wounded animal lay on the ground, flailing helplessly.
He was wildly flailing about on the dance floor.
The bird's wings flailed the water.
Recent Examples on the Web
Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025
The flailing power play was 0-for-4 on Wednesday and produced five total shots with the advantage; the best scoring chance of those three third-period power plays was Matt Boldy’s short-handed try for Minnesota.
—Arthur Staple, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
Eager to shift the blame for his administration’s flailing response to COVID-19, Trump suspended U.S. funding to the WHO in April 2020 and later announced that the United States would withdraw from the organization.
—Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 24 Mar. 2025
While Pomerleau was credited near the outset of his tenure for bringing order to a flailing department, his detractors came to view him as a kind of municipal dictator—and a racist one at that.
—Marc J. Dunkelman, TIME, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flail
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Verb
The flailing support comes as aggressive and sweeping tariffs have sparked a global trade war and sunk U.S. stocks.
—Nicole Fallert, USA Today, 8 Apr. 2025
The flailing power play was 0-for-4 on Wednesday and produced five total shots with the advantage; the best scoring chance of those three third-period power plays was Matt Boldy’s short-handed try for Minnesota.
—Arthur Staple, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
Eager to shift the blame for his administration’s flailing response to COVID-19, Trump suspended U.S. funding to the WHO in April 2020 and later announced that the United States would withdraw from the organization.
—Thomas J. Bollyky, Foreign Affairs, 24 Mar. 2025
While Pomerleau was credited near the outset of his tenure for bringing order to a flailing department, his detractors came to view him as a kind of municipal dictator—and a racist one at that.
—Marc J. Dunkelman, TIME, 27 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flail
Cite this Entry
“Flail.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flail. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
flail
1 of 2 noun
: a tool for threshing grain by hand
flail
2 of 2 verb1
: to strike with or as if with a flail
2
: to move or wave about as if swinging a flail
flailed their arms
Medical Definition
flail
adjective
: exhibiting abnormal mobility and loss of response to normal controls
—used of body parts damaged by paralysis, injury, or surgery
flail joint
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