as in waving
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in fluttering
to move or cause to move with a striking motion
the stirring sight of a huge flock of geese flapping their wings
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of flapping
Dallas Morning News, 12 Jan. 2026
The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some people with autism use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.
—CBS News, 12 Jan. 2026
In the body, there’s a new articulation of the elbows and wrists that allows expressive hand gestures, such as hand flapping, which some autistic people may use to process their experiences or express themselves.
—Sarah Scott, Parents, 12 Jan. 2026
As City prodded a stubborn defensive Everton shape that held Chelsea to their first WSL defeat under head coach Sonia Bompastor, there was no gurgling angst or arm flapping.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
For insect-sized robots, the weight of a battery powerful enough to sustain continuous flapping often exceeds the robot’s own lifting capacity.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Jan. 2026
The man whom Navarro likes to call the Boss seems to value insincere, or bought, obeisance—the flapping and fussing of a maître d’—more than heartfelt fandom, which lacks the piquancy of humiliation.
—Ian Parker, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
When the wing flapping became incessant, the DNR team knew the eagles were just about ready.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
The exposure was also linked to particular symptoms of autism, including social withdrawal, hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping and body rocking.
—Sharon Lerner, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2025
Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
For example, malware could send commands to rapidly open and close circuit breakers, a technique known as flapping.
—Saman Zonouz, The Conversation, 22 Jan. 2026
For example, malware could send commands to rapidly open and close circuit breakers, a technique known as flapping.
—Saman Zonouz, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
The attention to detail both inside and out is notable, and even goes so far as to include an artificial breeze that keeps a US flag installation always flapping in the wind.
—New Atlas, 29 Dec. 2025
But those series understood how to trace the flapping-butterfly-wing effects of such brutal actions outward, to take the violence and pain of our collective past and connect them to what this country would eventually become.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
With shammies in hand, nine-year-old girls became peacocks in neon one-pieces, flapping our miniature towels and performatively dabbing the water droplets off our arms.
—Kristen Geil, Outside, 8 Nov. 2025
While images of retinas bursting with color and a dove flapping its wings on an outstretched human hand looped behind them, the two allowed the crowd to grow denser while bobbing along to their rhythms.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2025
Gauzy curtains that have blown into a tree are flapping in the wind.
—Jane Arraf, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
Noun
The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some autistic people use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.
—Dallas Morning News, 12 Jan. 2026
The doll also was given articulated elbows and wrists to acknowledge stimming, hand flapping and other gestures that some people with autism use to process sensory information or to express excitement, according to Mattel.
—CBS News, 12 Jan. 2026
In the body, there’s a new articulation of the elbows and wrists that allows expressive hand gestures, such as hand flapping, which some autistic people may use to process their experiences or express themselves.
—Sarah Scott, Parents, 12 Jan. 2026
As City prodded a stubborn defensive Everton shape that held Chelsea to their first WSL defeat under head coach Sonia Bompastor, there was no gurgling angst or arm flapping.
—Megan Feringa, New York Times, 12 Jan. 2026
For insect-sized robots, the weight of a battery powerful enough to sustain continuous flapping often exceeds the robot’s own lifting capacity.
—Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 8 Jan. 2026
The man whom Navarro likes to call the Boss seems to value insincere, or bought, obeisance—the flapping and fussing of a maître d’—more than heartfelt fandom, which lacks the piquancy of humiliation.
—Ian Parker, New Yorker, 22 Dec. 2025
When the wing flapping became incessant, the DNR team knew the eagles were just about ready.
—Sophie Hartley, IndyStar, 3 Sep. 2025
The exposure was also linked to particular symptoms of autism, including social withdrawal, hyperactivity and repetitive behaviors such as hand flapping and body rocking.
—Sharon Lerner, CNN Money, 22 Aug. 2025
Verb
The team also discovered that rays using undulatory, wave-like swimming had better ground clearance than those with purely oscillatory, flapping motions.
—Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 22 Jan. 2026
For example, malware could send commands to rapidly open and close circuit breakers, a technique known as flapping.
—Saman Zonouz, The Conversation, 22 Jan. 2026
For example, malware could send commands to rapidly open and close circuit breakers, a technique known as flapping.
—Saman Zonouz, Fortune, 21 Jan. 2026
The attention to detail both inside and out is notable, and even goes so far as to include an artificial breeze that keeps a US flag installation always flapping in the wind.
—New Atlas, 29 Dec. 2025
But those series understood how to trace the flapping-butterfly-wing effects of such brutal actions outward, to take the violence and pain of our collective past and connect them to what this country would eventually become.
—Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 5 Dec. 2025
With shammies in hand, nine-year-old girls became peacocks in neon one-pieces, flapping our miniature towels and performatively dabbing the water droplets off our arms.
—Kristen Geil, Outside, 8 Nov. 2025
While images of retinas bursting with color and a dove flapping its wings on an outstretched human hand looped behind them, the two allowed the crowd to grow denser while bobbing along to their rhythms.
—Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 6 Nov. 2025
Gauzy curtains that have blown into a tree are flapping in the wind.
—Jane Arraf, NPR, 3 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flapping
Noun
-
Flag waving, immigration restriction, and culture-war rallying cries can shore up the MAGA-tech coalition, but more will be needed to achieve lasting success.—
Walter Russell Mead,
The Atlantic,
24 Jan. 2026
-
Assuming whatever creature birthed from a spider egg was also a shapeshifter would even allow the show to bring back everyone’s favorite dancing clown in a modern-day context without too much hand-waving.—
Louis Peitzman,
Vulture,
15 Dec. 2025
Verb
-
The hand in motion, the fluttering scarf, the sparkling outfit.—
JD Barker,
Rolling Stone,
9 Feb. 2026
-
Nothing sparks a team quite like killing off a five-on-three, and Canada scored in transition just 14 seconds after Fast was freed, as Kristin O’Neill batted in a fluttering Fast rebound for a 1-0 lead.—
Hailey Salvian,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Noun
-
But even if part of the point is to show that healing doesn’t happen overnight, the catharsis is too vague to reward all the flailing distress.—
David Rooney,
HollywoodReporter,
16 Feb. 2026
-
And so too is his slightly flailing, vaguely desperate, going-for-it run, typified by his hair falling out of place and the sense that this man is fundamentally, for all his money and celebrity, some guy trying to get from one place to another.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
5 Dec. 2025
Noun
-
After 10 weeks without food, Muraisi is experiencing involuntary muscular twitching and severe chest pains, according to Prisoners for Palestine, with her doctors warning of possible cardiovascular collapse.—
Kara Fox,
CNN Money,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Patients first experience twitching or weakness in a limb, as Decker did.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
16 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flapping.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flapping. Accessed 19 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
