Library / English Dictionary

FLAP

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected forms: flapped    , flapping   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Example:

he wrote on the flap of the envelope

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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"):

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

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

flap; flaps

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

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)

Sense 3

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 4

Meaning:

The motion made by flapping up and down

Synonyms:

flap; flapping; flutter; fluttering

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural events

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 5

Meaning:

An excited state of agitation

Example:

there was a terrible flap about the theft

Synonyms:

dither; flap; fuss; pother; tizzy

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

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

agitation (a mental state of extreme emotional disturbance)

Derivation:

flap (make a fuss; be agitated)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make a fuss; be agitated

Synonyms:

dither; flap; pother

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

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 3

Meaning:

Move noisily

Example:

flags flapped in the strong wind

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 4

Meaning:

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

Example:

the waves rolled towards the beach

Synonyms:

flap; roll; undulate; wave

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 5

Meaning:

Move with a flapping motion

Example:

The bird's wings were flapping

Synonyms:

beat; flap

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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 6

Meaning:

Move with a thrashing motion

Example:

The eagle beat its wings and soared high into the sky

Synonyms:

beat; flap

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

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)

Credits

 Context examples: 

'A five, a four and the main,' shouted the big man, with a voice like the flap of a sail.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Then came a heavy blow, and down he fell in the middle of the moonlit road, flapping and jumping among the dust like a trout new landed.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The soft flap of tissue that hangs down at the back of the mouth (at the edge of the soft palate).

(Palatine uvula, NCI Dictionary)

The flap that covers the trachea during swallowing so that food does not enter the lungs.

(Epiglottis, NCI Dictionary)

In Lentivirus, a central strand displacement event consecutive to central initiation and termination of plus strand synthesis creates a plus strand overlap: the central DNA flap.

(Central DNA Flap Sequence, NCI Thesaurus)

Flaps of tissue that prevent regurgitation of blood from the ventricles to the atria or from the pulmonary arteries or aorta to the ventricles.

(Cardiac Valve, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

A tissue flap, including blood vessels, skin, fat, and sometimes muscle, is removed from one area of the body, such as the back or abdomen.

(Free flap, NCI Dictionary)

A dual-flap valve of the heart that regulates the flow of blood between the left atrium and the left ventricle of the heart.

(Mitral Valve, NCI Thesaurus)

A latissimus dorsi flap is a type of breast reconstruction.

(Latissimus dorsi flap, NCI Dictionary)

About a quarter of a mile from the stables John Straker’s overcoat was flapping from a furze-bush.

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