flap

Meaning

Noun

1. Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved.
2. A hinged leaf.
3. A hinged surface on the trailing edge of the wings of an aeroplane, used to increase lift and drag.
4. A side fin of a ray.
5. The motion of anything broad and loose, or a sound or stroke made with it.
6. A controversy, scandal, stir, or upset.
7. A consonant sound made by a single muscle contraction, such as the sound /ɾ/ in the standard American English pronunciation of body.
8. A piece of tissue incompletely detached from the body, as an intermediate stage of plastic surgery.
9. (in-plural, slang, vulgar) The labia, the vulva.
10. (obsolete) A blow or slap (especially to the face).
11. (obsolete) A young prostitute.
12. A connected component of the induced subgraph formed by deleting a set of vertices.

Verb

1. (transitive) To move (something broad and loose) up and down.
2. (intransitive) To move loosely back and forth.
3. (intransitive) For a goalkeeper to weakly attempt to play a flighted ball with the hands, failing to control it.
4. (transitive) To pronounce (something) as a flap consonant.
5. (intransitive) To be pronounced with a flap consonant.
6. (intransitive) To be advertised as being available and then unavailable (or available by different routes) in rapid succession.

Synonyms

flutter

wave

👋

beat

wag

flapping

flop

slap

lap

swing

dither

fly

✈️

pother

clap

👏

fuss

fan

strike

valve

bang

tizzy

shake

🫨

lash

puff up

swell up

flicker

stroke

fluttering

undulate

blink

vibrate

tab

sweep

flitter

flit

agitation

waver

skirt

flick

flaps

panel

baffle

roll

smack

hang down

apron

excitement

agitate

brandish

bat

🦇

blow

movement

Translations

aba

Klappe

agitar

volet

battre

agitar

solapa

φτερουγίζω

pan

sventolare

👋

bater

rabat

ipersostentatore

klep

Schlag

Pronounced as (IPA)

/flæp/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: flap

Cognate with Saterland Frisian: Flappert

Cognate with Middle Dutch: flabbe

Cognate with Dutch: flap

Cognate with Middle Low German: flabbe

Inherited from Middle English: flappen

Cognate with Dutch: flappen

Cognate with German: flappen

Cognate with Dutch: flabberen

In summary

From Middle English flap, flappe (“a slap; blow; buffet; fly-flap; something flexible or loose; flap”), related to Saterland Frisian Flappert (“wing, flipper”), Middle Dutch flabbe (“a blow; slap on the face; fly-flap; flap”) (modern Dutch flap (“flap”)), Middle Low German flabbe, vlabbe, flebbe, from the verb (see below). Related also to English flab and flabby.