aflap

A1F4L1A1P3

adjective

Flapping.

Similar
in a flap
Scrabble 10
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Meanings

adjectiveaflap (not comparable)
  1. not comparableFlapping.

    1894, George Lansing Raymond, The Aztec God, Act 3, in The Aztec God and Other Dramas, New York: Putnam, 1908, p. 66, and she / A vulture feasting with foul wings aflap

    2 more examples

    nodding her head firmly, headscarf aflap

    1984, Keri Hulme, The Bone People, Auckland: Spiral, published 1985, Part 3, Chapter 7, p. 292

    […] a woman in a gaberdine comes staggering out from the roadside, hands aflap, shoeless but on the run.

    2013, Richard House, “The Hit”, in The Kills, London: Picador, page 806
  2. not comparableFilled (with something flapping).

    They walked up Main Street, which was all aflap with American flags […]

    1908, Eugene Wood, Folks Back Home, New York: The McClure Company, page 46
    2 more examples

    Clothes-drying lofts, open frameworks on the flat roofs of houses, all aflap with clothes, sheets, kimono, reminded me of Canaletto’s pictures of Venetian life […]

    1962, James Kirkup, chapter 10, in These Horned Islands, New York: Macmillan, page 152

    […] the buses bursting with cackling passengers three times over capacity and aflap with chickens.

    2003, Lionel Shriver, We Need to Talk About Kevin, London: Serpent’s Tail, published 2005, page 118
  3. colloquialnot comparableShowing excessive excitement or anger.

    1977, Niel Hancock, Calix Stay, New York: Fawcett Popular Library, p. 93, “First he says we isn’t welcome, then he’s all aflap cause some of us is gone.”

    1 more example

    1994, Bernice Morgan, Waiting for Time, St. John’s, NL: Breakwater, Part 1, Chapter 4, p. 53, […] people are barely over our givin’ that extra quota of cod to the French, now they’re all aflap about selling spawny caplin to the Japanese […]

    Synonyms: in a flap

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveShowing excessive excitement or anger.

Similar
in a flap

Origin

From a- + flap.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

aflap. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aflap

MLA

“aflap.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aflap. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “aflap,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/aflap.

Source: aflap on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.