flipper

noun

flip·​per ˈfli-pər 

plural flippers

1

a

: a broad flat limb (as of a seal or cetacean) adapted for swimming

b

: a flat shoe (as of rubber or silicone) with the front expanded into a paddle that is used to aid movement through water (as in snorkeling or scuba diving)

called also fin, swim fin

2

: someone or something that flips or is used in flipping

spatulas and pancake flippers

pinball flippers

He worked as a burger flipper.

A flipper is a person who changes TV channels just to see what else is on.

—Springfield (Massachusetts) Morning Union

He also interviews house "flippers" who buy cheap property with an eye toward making some inexpensive improvements to spruce it up and then quickly "flipping" it, or reselling it at a value-added price for a tidy profit.

—James Prichard

Examples of flipper in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

This species, dating back 9 million years, helps fill a gap in the fossil record and marks a point when ancient right whales began to develop robust flippers. —Real-Time News Team, Miami Herald, 26 Sep. 2025

His obsession with gilding everything, whether with actual gold or paint, feels not unlike a Goodwill-furniture-flipper’s antiquing hack. —Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 25 Sep. 2025

Her flippers, each more than two feet long, scooped out sand and flung it to her sides in slow, determined strokes. —M. Rajshekhar, Time, 11 Sep. 2025

Every nesting season, thousands of females dig holes on the seashore with their flippers, and each one lays dozens of eggs inside. —Diaa Hadid, NPR, 5 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1819, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for flipper

• chipper
• clipper
• dipper
• gripper
• kipper
• nipper
• ripper
• shipper
• skipper
• slipper
• stripper
• tipper

Kids Definition

flipper

noun

flip·​per ˈflip-ər 

1

: a broad flat limb (as of a seal or whale) used for swimming

2

: a flat rubber shoe with the front widened into a paddle for use in skin diving