flail

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English flayle, from earlier fleil, fleyl, fleȝȝl, from Old English fligel, *flegel (“flail”), from Proto-West Germanic *flagil, of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots flail (“a thresher's flail”), West Frisian fleil, flaaiel (“flail”), Dutch vlegel (“flail”), German Flegel (“flail”). Possibly a native Germanic word from Proto-Germanic *flagilaz (“whip”), from Proto-Germanic *flag-, *flah- (“to whip, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂k- (“to beat, hit, strike; weep”); compare Old Norse flaga (“sudden attack, bout”), Lithuanian plàkti (“to whip, lash, flog”), Ancient Greek πληγνύναι (plēgnúnai, “strike, hit, encounter”), Latin plangō (“lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast”) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). If so, related also to English flag, flack, flacker. Alternatively, Proto-West Germanic *flagil may be an early borrowing of Latin flagellum (“winnowing tool, thresher”), diminutive of flagrum (“scourge, whip”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlag-, *bʰlaǵ- (“to beat”); compare Old Norse blekkja (“to beat, mistreat”). Compare also Old French flael (“flail”), Walloon flayea (“flail”) (locally pronounced "flai"), Italian flagello (“scourge, whip, plague”). === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /fleɪl/ (dialectal, archaic) IPA(key): /fɹeɪl/ (see frail) Rhymes: -eɪl === Noun === flail (plural flails) A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle (handstock) with a shorter stick (swipple or swingle) attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material. Synonyms: frail (obsolete), thrashel, threshel A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain. Coordinate term: nunchaku (often plural) Part of a rotating device, often used for cutting vegetation. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Verb === flail (third-person singular simple present flails, present participle flailing, simple past and past participle flailed) (transitive) To beat using a flail or similar implement. (transitive) To wave or swing vigorously Synonym: thrash (transitive) To thresh. (intransitive) To move like a flail. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Related terms ==== flounder ==== Translations ==== === References === === Further reading === flail on Wikipedia.Wikipedia flail mower on Wikipedia.Wikipedia Flail in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911) === Anagrams === Filla, alfil