Meaning of "flail" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD FLAIL

Fleil, ultimately from Late Latin flagellum flail, from Latin: whip.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF FLAIL

flail  [fleɪl]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF FLAIL

Flail is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb flail in English.

WHAT DOES FLAIL MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Flail

A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing to separate grains from their husks. It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other to strike a pile of grain, loosening the husks. The precise dimensions and shape of flails were determined by generations of farmers to suit the particular grain they were harvesting. For example, flails used by farmers in Quebec to process wheat were generally made from two pieces of wood, the handle being about 1.5 m long by 3 cm in diameter, and the second stick being about 1 m long by about 3 cm in diameter, with a slight taper towards the end. Flails for other grains, such as rice or spelt, would have had different dimensions. French peasants threshing with flails around 1270. Flails have generally fallen into disuse in many nations because of the availability of technologies such as combine harvesters that require much less manual labour.

Definition of flail in the English dictionary

The first definition of flail in the dictionary is an implement used for threshing grain, consisting of a wooden handle with a free-swinging metal or wooden bar attached to it. Other definition of flail is a weapon so shaped used in the Middle Ages. Flail is also to beat or thrash with or as if with a flail.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO FLAIL

PRESENT

Present

I flail

you flail

he/she/it flails

we flail

you flail

they flail

Present continuous

I am flailing

you are flailing

he/she/it is flailing

we are flailing

you are flailing

they are flailing

Present perfect

I have flailed

you have flailed

he/she/it has flailed

we have flailed

you have flailed

they have flailed

Present perfect continuous

I have been flailing

you have been flailing

he/she/it has been flailing

we have been flailing

you have been flailing

they have been flailing

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I flailed

you flailed

he/she/it flailed

we flailed

you flailed

they flailed

Past continuous

I was flailing

you were flailing

he/she/it was flailing

we were flailing

you were flailing

they were flailing

Past perfect

I had flailed

you had flailed

he/she/it had flailed

we had flailed

you had flailed

they had flailed

Past perfect continuous

I had been flailing

you had been flailing

he/she/it had been flailing

we had been flailing

you had been flailing

they had been flailing

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will flail

you will flail

he/she/it will flail

we will flail

you will flail

they will flail

Future continuous

I will be flailing

you will be flailing

he/she/it will be flailing

we will be flailing

you will be flailing

they will be flailing

Future perfect

I will have flailed

you will have flailed

he/she/it will have flailed

we will have flailed

you will have flailed

they will have flailed

Future perfect continuous

I will have been flailing

you will have been flailing

he/she/it will have been flailing

we will have been flailing

you will have been flailing

they will have been flailing

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would flail

you would flail

he/she/it would flail

we would flail

you would flail

they would flail

Conditional continuous

I would be flailing

you would be flailing

he/she/it would be flailing

we would be flailing

you would be flailing

they would be flailing

Conditional perfect

I would have flail

you would have flail

he/she/it would have flail

we would have flail

you would have flail

they would have flail

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been flailing

you would have been flailing

he/she/it would have been flailing

we would have been flailing

you would have been flailing

they would have been flailing

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you flail
we let´s flail
you flail

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to flail

Past participle

flailed

Present Participle

flailing

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «FLAIL»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «flail» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of flail

beat · thrash · thresh · windmill

TRANSLATION OF FLAIL

Find out the translation of flail to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of flail from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «flail» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 用力地胡乱挥动
• Translator English - Spanish: sacudir
• English: flail
• Translator English - Hindi: शिथिल
• Translator English - Arabic: المنشة
• Translator English - Russian: цеп
• Translator English - Portuguese: agitar-se
• Translator English - Bengali: প্রহার করা
• Translator English - French: battre l´air
• Translator English - Malay: Flail
• Translator English - German: rudern mit
• Translator English - Japanese: 振り回す/ばたばたと動く
• Translator English - Korean: 마구 흔들리다
• Translator English - Javanese: Flail
• Translator English - Vietnamese: flail
• Translator English - Tamil: flail
• Translator English - Marathi: गोंधळ
• Translator English - Turkish: harman döveni
• Translator English - Italian: agitarsi in modo scomposto
• Translator English - Polish: cep
• Translator English - Ukrainian: ціп
• Translator English - Romanian: îmblăciu
• Translator English - Greek: κόπανος
• Translator English - Afrikaans: klepel
• Translator English - Swedish: slaga
• Translator English - Norwegian: flail

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «FLAIL»

Discover the use of flail in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to flail and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Sherman Crab Flail Tank

In addition to its special mine-clearing role the Sherman Crab was also capable of fighting in tank duels, and this book includes dramatic accounts of its use by the famous 79th Armoured Division and the US Army.

David Fletcher, 2012

Under the Iron Flail

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1905. Excerpt: .

John Oxenham, 2010

Acute Care Surgery: Principles and Practice

The decision to surgically stabilize the chest wall in flail chest or to treat the acute pain and disability of rib fractures is currently based on the experience and judgment of the surgeon.Class III evidence,however, indicates that the surgical ...

L.D. Britt, Donald D. Trunkey, David V. Feliciano, 2007

Breaking God's Flail: Chan Sculpture and the Death of a ...

the. rivers. meet. It is said that Chingghis Khan once climbed into the pulpit of a central Asian mosque and professed to be the 'flail of God', sent to punish the people for their sins. The story, as the medieval Persian historian Juvaini recorded it, ...

Kim Hunter Gordon, 2012

The French Flail: Or, a Letter to His Excellency, the ...

Or, a Letter to His Excellency, the Commander in Chief of His Majesty's New Raised Regiments of Ladies. II. A Song, to the Tune Of, King John and the Abbot of Canterbury. III. The Challenge. □ A '□Li1* THE French FLAIL; O R, the i г T? -г .

‎1746

Performance of a portable chain flail delimber/debarker ...

Flail chains alone accounted for more than $0.50 per ton. Further developments in chain technology should reduce this considerably. The second is to separate the delimbing/ debarking function from the chipping and balance the productive ...

Michael A. Thompson, John A. Sturos, North Central Forest Experiment Station (Saint Paul, Minn.), 1991

The Flail

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.

Newton Augustus Fuessle, 2010

Head, Face, and Neck Trauma: Comprehensive Management

Bilateral or multiple fractures affected by muscle pull from different directions can result in a flail mandible (Fig. 12-1). Subsequently, this can create a loss of airway control due to compromise of lingual function, posterior collapse of the tongue, ...

Michael G. Stewart, 2005

A Compleat Collection of the Protests of the Lords During ...

Ard be it farther hnattsd, That if .any Perfon not hfetted, nor liable toper- from ^ tiarentine, flail prejume to enter any Ship, Houfe, Lazaret, or other Place fo appointed, as aforefaid, wbilji any Perfon or Perfons fo Infetted, or being under ^ uarentine, ...

Great Britain. Parliament. House of Lords, 1722

Design of Demining Machines

2.5.4. Flail. Design. The best soil digging density is achieved by hammer shear of 16 mm, where machine movement speed is less than 1 km/h. Higher machine speed is achieved by hammer shear of 30 mm, which provides for better working  ...

Dinko Mikulic, 2012

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «FLAIL»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term flail is used in the context of the following news items.

Marine patrol deputies: If no one can see you, no one can save you

Often, swimmers who take that first gulp of water will begin to panic and flail their arms, Ellison said. Most of the time, people will try to shout for ... «Albany Democrat Herald, Jul 15»

Danny Salazar, bases-loaded walks work wonders for Cleveland …

Would the Indians again flail in a promising situation? The team had to be long overdue for a timely base knock, right? At first, neither question ... «cleveland.com, Jul 15»

'The Gallows' hangs together beautifully

... rivalries and jealousies, the cruelty that springs from insecurity and ignorance, the rampant immaturity that makes kids flail around like fools. «Charlotte Observer, Jul 15»

OPINION: Reality TV keeps the pressure on

Hands flail, brows furrow and conniptions are had as disasters befall contestants by the slimmest of margins or are narrowly averted as the ... «Rockhampton Morning Bulletin, Jul 15»

Anyone for (council) tennis?

And as I flail and flounder, stumble and trip, wheeze and whack woefully at thin air, Neil smiles benignly and says: "Well done." Well done? «Herald Scotland, Jul 15»

Gears Of Poor: The Past, Present and Future Of The Franchise

The Mauler, a hulking Locust unit with a retractable shield and explosive flail, lacked mobility but made up for it in sheer strength; it's a ... «Power Up Gaming, Jul 15»

Euthanasia a dead end even for its advocates

Still, it's a vantage point that enables Dunne to flail all and sundry both to the left and right of him. But occasionally he likes to use that ... «New Zealand Herald, Jul 15»

How the Chamber of Commerce allied with the right and lost …

Instead they preen and posture, fight and flail, and generally fail to confront the long list of enormous national problems that rightly worry any ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»

Trump Taj Mahal job fair reminder of promise not kept

His arms start to flail. “It was complimentary deliveries. It was Louie, and Dom Perignon. It was Cristal. It was caviar.” “I had $50,000, $60,000, ... «Press of Atlantic City, Jul 15»

Prabhas, Rana Daggubati, Tamannaah and Anushka Shetty

... a chariot with giant cleavers, sharp-edged spears, scimitars that never fail to cut deep, and a mace that doubles up as a deadly iron-ball flail. «NDTV, Jul 15»