FLAP (flapped, flapping)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: flapped    , flapping   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flap mean? 

• FLAP (noun)
  The noun FLAP has 5 senses:

1. any broad thin and limber covering attached at one edge; hangs loose or projects freely

2. an excited state of agitation

3. the motion made by flapping up and down

4. a movable piece of tissue partly connected to the body

5. a movable airfoil that is part of an aircraft wing; used to increase lift or drag

  Familiarity information: FLAP used as a noun is common.

• FLAP (verb)
  The verb FLAP has 6 senses:

1. move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion

2. move noisily

3. move with a thrashing motion

4. move with a flapping motion

5. make a fuss; be agitated

6. pronounce with a flap, of alveolar sounds

  Familiarity information: FLAP used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLAP (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any broad thin and limber covering attached at one edge; hangs loose or projects freely

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Context example:

he wrote on the flap of the envelope

Hypernyms ("flap" is a kind of...):

covering (an artifact that covers something else (usually to protect or shelter or conceal it))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flap"):

coattail (the loose back flap of a coat that hangs below the waist)

codpiece ((15th-16th century) a flap for the crotch of men's tight-fitting breeches)

earflap; earlap (one of two flaps attached to a cap to keep the ears warm)

dag; jag (a flap along the edge of a garment; used in medieval clothing)

lap; overlap (a flap that lies over another part)

pocket flap (a flap that covers the access to a pocket)

fly; fly sheet; rainfly; tent-fly; tent flap (flap consisting of a piece of canvas that can be drawn back to provide entrance to a tent)

tongue (the flap of material under the laces of a shoe or boot)

barndoor (an opaque adjustable flap on a lamp fixture; used in photography to cut off light from particular areas)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An excited state of agitation

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

dither; flap; fuss; pother; tizzy

Context example:

there was a terrible flap about the theft

Hypernyms ("flap" is a kind of...):

agitation (a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance)

Derivation:

flap (make a fuss; be agitated)

Sense 3

Meaning:

The motion made by flapping up and down

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

Synonyms:

flap; flapping; flutter; fluttering

Hypernyms ("flap" is a kind of...):

undulation; wave ((physics) a movement up and down or back and forth)

Derivation:

flap (move noisily)

flap (move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion)

flap (move with a flapping motion)

flap (move with a thrashing motion)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A movable piece of tissue partly connected to the body

Classified under:

Nouns denoting body parts

Hypernyms ("flap" is a kind of...):

animal tissue (the tissue in the bodies of animals)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flap"):

uvula (a small pendant fleshy lobe at the back of the soft palate)

soft palate; velum (a muscular flap that closes off the nasopharynx during swallowing or speaking)

protective fold (a flap of tissue that protects what it covers)

cusp; leaflet (a thin triangular flap of a heart valve)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A movable airfoil that is part of an aircraft wing; used to increase lift or drag

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flap; flaps

Hypernyms ("flap" is a kind of...):

aerofoil; airfoil; control surface; surface (a device that provides reactive force when in motion relative to the surrounding air; can lift or control a plane in flight)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flap"):

landing flap (a flap on the underside of the wing that is lowered to slow the plane for landing)

Holonyms ("flap" is a part of...):

wing (one of the horizontal airfoils on either side of the fuselage of an airplane)

• FLAP (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flap    ... he / she / it flaps   
Past simple: flapped   
Past participle: flapped   
-ing form: flapping   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

flap; roll; undulate; wave

Context example:

the waves rolled towards the beach

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flap"):

luff (flap when the wind is blowing equally on both sides)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

flap; flapping (the motion made by flapping up and down)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Move noisily

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Context example:

flags flapped in the strong wind

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

beat; pound; thump (move rhythmically)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

flap; flapping (the motion made by flapping up and down)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Move with a thrashing motion

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

beat; flap

Context example:

The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

displace; move (cause to move or shift into a new position or place, both in a concrete and in an abstract sense)

Verb group:

beat; flap (move with a flapping motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flap"):

flutter (flap the wings rapidly or fly with flapping movements)

bate (flap the wings wildly or frantically; used of falcons)

clap (cause to strike the air in flight)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Derivation:

flap; flapping (the motion made by flapping up and down)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Move with a flapping motion

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

beat; flap

Context example:

The bird's wings were flapping

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

move (move so as to change position, perform a nontranslational motion)

Verb group:

beat; flap (move with a thrashing motion)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flap"):

flail; thresh (move like a flail; thresh about)

clap (strike the air in flight)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

flap; flapping (the motion made by flapping up and down)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Make a fuss; be agitated

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

dither; flap; pother

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

fret; fuss; niggle (worry unnecessarily or excessively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Derivation:

flap (an excited state of agitation)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Pronounce with a flap, of alveolar sounds

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "flap" is one way to...):

articulate; enounce; enunciate; pronounce; say; sound out (speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

 Context examples 

With these bladders, they now and then flapped the mouths and ears of those who stood near them, of which practice I could not then conceive the meaning.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

He turned and fled across the water-front, a meagre shadow in a flapping overcoat, with Martin straining to keep up with him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Inside was ‘P.C.’ on the flap.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Scientists from China's Tshinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences reported bird flight may have evolved from wing-flapping by running dinosaurs.

(Scientific study suggests dinosaurs flapped their wings as they ran, Wikinews)

But the creature flapped and struggled, and out came my sister to know what was the matter.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

His forehead was covered by the visor of his fur cap, the flaps of which went over his ears.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

There was a great fluttering and flapping of canvas and reef-points, most welcome to my ears, then she filled away on the other tack.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

"We discovered why birds don't need one: their flapping wings don't only offer propulsion — they also orient into the wind passively like a weathervane."

(Scientists discover how birds navigate crosswinds, National Science Foundation)

To and fro, up and down, north, south, east, and west, the HISPANIOLA sailed by swoops and dashes, and at each repetition ended as she had begun, with idly flapping canvas.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

A pedicle flap is a type of breast reconstruction.

(Pedicle flap, NCI Dictionary)