FLAILING

Verb

flailing

present participle of flail

Noun

flailing (plural flailings)

A flailing action or motion.

The drowning man's flailings soon attracted the lifeguard's attention.

Source: Wiktionary


FLAIL

Flail, n. Etym: [L. flagellum whip, scourge, in LL., a threshing flail: cf. OF. flael, flaiel, F. fléau. See Flagellum.]

1. An instrument for threshing or beating grain from the ear by hand, consisting of a wooden staff or handle, at the end of which a stouter and shorter pole or club, called a swipe, is so hung as to swing freely. His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn. Milton.

2. An ancient military weapon, like the common flail, often having the striking part armed with rows of spikes, or loaded. Fairholt. No citizen thought himself safe unless he carried under his coat a small flail, loaded with lead, to brain the Popish assassins. Macaulay.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

10 May 2025

BEATIFY

(verb) declare (a dead person) to be blessed; the first step of achieving sainthood; “On Sunday, the martyr will be beatified by the Vatican”


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Coffee Trivia

According to Guinness World Records, the largest coffee press is 230 cm (7 ft 6 in) in height and 72 cm (2 ft 4 in) in diameter and was created by Salzillo Tea and Coffee (Spain) in Murcia, Spain, in February 2007. The cafetière consists of a stainless steel container, a filtering piston, and a superior lid.

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