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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

flail about en · VERB

Meanings

  1. (intransitive) To wave one's arms (or upper body) about violently, rather like a flail.
    • Barry continued to shout obscenities and to flail about in a strait jacket, finally succumbing to the effects of intravenously administered tranquilizers. 1969, Theodore Millon, Modern Psychopathology: A Biosocial Approach to Maladaptive Learning and Functioning:
  2. (figuratively, intransitive) To make efforts that are strenuous but disorganized and ineffectual.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
flailed about Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
flailed about Tense=Past lexicographic
flailing about Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part lexicographic
flails about Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres lexicographic