verb / noun
flail
FLAYL/fleɪl/
A jointed threshing implement swung to beat grain loose.
The worker swings the flail to beat grain from the stalks.
Etymology
Middle English fleilen meant 'to whip or scourge' and came from the name of a grain-threshing tool. The later motion sense compares wild swinging to the movement of that tool.
In context
I don't flail all around uncontrollably when I go swimming.
More examples
- A leather strap joins the two wooden parts of the flail.
- Workers use flails to thresh wheat on the barn floor.
- The museum displays a flail beside other old farming tools.
Forms
flail · flails
Similar words
- thresher
- Usually a grain-separating machine rather than a handheld jointed tool.