: 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
Literary Hub, 10 June 2025
That is my favorite way to watch a character flail around.
—Esther Zuckerman, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
Still images captured by photographers at the bottom present a confusing tableau, as if a giant has tipped a box of action figures out onto the hillside, bodies are upside down, or airborne sideways, and limbs are flailing everywhere.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 25 May 2025
We’re faced with Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Acting Administrator of the USAID, Acting Archivist, and Interim National Security Adviser to failed, flailing businessman President Trump.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 9 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for flail
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Verb
Through the icy porthole rubbed into Junior’s window, Inga Olsen wades toward them, arms flailing for balance.
—Literary Hub, 10 June 2025
That is my favorite way to watch a character flail around.
—Esther Zuckerman, HollywoodReporter, 10 June 2025
Still images captured by photographers at the bottom present a confusing tableau, as if a giant has tipped a box of action figures out onto the hillside, bodies are upside down, or airborne sideways, and limbs are flailing everywhere.
—Don Riddell, CNN Money, 25 May 2025
We’re faced with Marco Rubio as Secretary of State, Acting Administrator of the USAID, Acting Archivist, and Interim National Security Adviser to failed, flailing businessman President Trump.
—Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 9 May 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 6 Jul. 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
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share