flailed
past simple and past participle offlail
flail
verb[IorT]
uk/fleɪl/us/fleɪl/(alsoflail about/around)(especiallyofarmsandlegs) tomoveenergeticallyin anuncontrolledway:
Awaspcame towards us and Howardstartedflailing hisarmsaround.
Sheranfrom thehousein aterriblerage, herarmsflailing in theair.
Making short, sudden movements
- aquiver
- convulse
- convulsion
- convulsive
- cringe
- flick
- jerkiness
- jerky
- jig
- jiggle
- jiggly
- pull away
- quiver
- shrink
- shudder
- squirm
- tremulous
- whip
- worry atsomething
- wriggle
Examplesofflailed
flailed
In English, many past and present participles of verbs can be used as adjectives. Some of these examples may show the adjective use.
He charged in andflailedfrantically around without landing a single punch.
From the
Hansard archive
Example from the Hansard archive. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under theOpen Parliament Licence v3.0
Shrapnelflailedthe superstructure of the tanker, wounding 14 men.
From
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.He stripped his clothes andflailedthrough the underbrush, for about half an hour.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.It is oftenflailedin large figure-8 patterns across the body with such speed and violence that the displacement of air is loudly discernible.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.Sheflailedat the men with her umbrella and then rushed to the kings apartments to identify the conspirators.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.What ensued was a farcical fist fight in which the combatants were unable to keep their footing on the ice as theyflailedaway at each other.
FromThis example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.
Wikipedia
This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license.These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.