1
as in to flutter
to move or cause to move with a striking motion
started to flail his arms wildly when he spied a bat in the house
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2
as in to whip
to strike repeatedly with something long and thin or flexible
gruesome evidence that the prisoner had been flailed
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of flail
Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 7 May 2025
However, his abysmal start to the year – he’s typically flailed over the first month, though not this much – has left fans begging for Luke Weaver’s return to the closer’s role.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2025
Some, perhaps with haunting memories of watching big guys like Gallo, Davis and outfielder Adam Dunn flailing away, remain wary.
—Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Eight minutes into Game 2, Dallas’ Mason Marchment got beat by Miles Wood up the right boards, flailed with his stick, and drew a two-minute tripping call.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flail
Verb
The short clip features a humanoid robot malfunctioning, flailing its appendages wildly, and getting almost too close for comfort to two humans working on it.
—Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 7 May 2025
However, his abysmal start to the year – he’s typically flailed over the first month, though not this much – has left fans begging for Luke Weaver’s return to the closer’s role.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 26 Apr. 2025
Some, perhaps with haunting memories of watching big guys like Gallo, Davis and outfielder Adam Dunn flailing away, remain wary.
—Chuck Murr, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Eight minutes into Game 2, Dallas’ Mason Marchment got beat by Miles Wood up the right boards, flailed with his stick, and drew a two-minute tripping call.
—Sean Keeler, Denver Post, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flail
Recent Examples of Synonyms for flail
Verb
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His shot from just beyond the left circle deflected off Toronto defenseman Morgan Rielly before fluttering past goaltender Joseph Woll and into the net.—
Jordan McPherson,
Miami Herald,
10 May 2025
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The red and yellow of Vietnam’s national flag was everywhere in the city — fluttering from buildings, painted on the faces of eager teenagers and on the T-shirts of those who had traveled to the city from all over the country.—
Aniruddha Ghosal,
Los Angeles Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Appropriately, those flags whipped atop the Hall of Fame building on a particularly windy Friday, hours before a 40-year ceremony for the 1985 team and a day prior to a 10-year reunion for the 2015 team.—
Sam McDowell,
Kansas City Star,
17 May 2025
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Made with 92 percent natural ingredients, the gentle, sulfate-free shampoo is whipped with tea tree and peppermint oils, which help create a healthy pH balance on the scalp and smell like a spa.—
Jenny Berg,
Allure,
17 May 2025
Noun
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Todd Golden could cycle body after body in the paint to bludgeon opponents and wear them down over 40 minutes, and Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, the Gators’ two starters, were crucial parts of that rotation.—
Jim Root,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
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Peace in Ukraine and the Middle East is proving to be far harder to achieve than the real estate deals envisaged by the president, while the bludgeon of tariffs is raising ever more opposition among erstwhile allies.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The doves in the poignant, almost twenty-five-hundred-year-old sculpture look very much like the pigeons walking and flapping around the museum’s plaza along Fifth Avenue, out front.—
Ian Frazier,
New Yorker,
5 May 2025
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From their Alaskan breeding grounds, the curlews will make an epic migration of at least 2,500 miles to northwestern Hawaii—and some will even flap as far as the South Pacific, tacking an additional 1,250 miles onto their journey.—
Carlyn Kranking,
Smithsonian Magazine,
15 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Lastly, clean up any rotting wood or loose leaves from your property to give these ants fewer places to hide.—
Lauren Thomann,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 May 2025
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The boy hides aloft in the Sycamore Gap tree's branches.—
Kim Hjelmgaard,
USA Today,
9 May 2025
Noun
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In other words, marketers who want to take advantage of the big playoff ratings are generally required to purchase regular-season inventory, although that’s not to say that the premium units are deployed as a cudgel to move the more quotidian spots.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
2 May 2025
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Longer term, researchers fear the Trump Administration will use federal research funding as a cudgel to force universities and other institutions that receive it in its purge of diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.—
Danielle Chemtob,
Forbes,
24 Jan. 2025
Verb
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The result is a leaner, more transparent value chain that slashes transit times, anchors skilled jobs at home, and gives automakers, wind-turbine producers, battery materials manufacturers, and aerospace primes a domestic alternative to long-distance supply lines.—
William Jones,
USA Today,
16 May 2025
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Read Next State Politics Plan to slash property taxes passes Idaho House.—
Sarah Cutler,
Idaho Statesman,
15 May 2025
Noun
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Greer kicked him in the ribs, stomped on his head and picked up Snellings’ cane and hit the victim with it, Hoffman said.—
Emerson Clarridge,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
5 May 2025
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Some carried their work briefcases, some American flags, some walked with canes, and others were pushed in wheelchairs…304,000 of them had been wounded in Vietnam.—
Stan Godlewski,
Hartford Courant,
3 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Flail.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/flail. Accessed 23 May. 2025.
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