flailing

/ˈfleɪlɪŋ/

flailing is the present participle and gerund of flail.

Meaning of flail

flail (third-person singular simple present flails, present participle flailing, simple past and past participle flailed)

(transitive) To beat using a flail or similar implement.
(transitive) To wave or swing vigorously
- Tangling with Ziv, Cameron caught him with a flailing elbow, causing the Israeli defender to go down a little easily. However, the referee was in no doubt, much to the displeasure of the home fans.2011 October 20, Michael da Silva, “Stoke 3 - 0 Macc Tel-Aviv”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms:

thrash
(transitive) To thresh.
(intransitive) To move like a flail.
- He was flailing wildly, but didn't land a blow.

flailing (plural flailings)

A flailing action or motion.
- The drowning man's flailings soon attracted the lifeguard's attention.

flailing (comparative more flailing, superlative most flailing)

Having a lack of coordination, control, or successful outcome.
- A flailing economy has left the country exposed to hyperinflation.

9 more rhymesFewer rhymes

What does flailing mean?: Flailing means a flailing action or motion.
What is flailing the present participle and gerund of?: Flailing is the present participle and gerund of flail.
What part of speech is flailing?: Flailing can be a noun or an adjective.
How do you pronounce flailing?: Flailing is pronounced /ˈfleɪlɪŋ/.
What is the plural of flailing?: The plural of flailing is flailings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: flailing (page history and authors); flail (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “flailing.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/flailing. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.