flail

plural flails

1. A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle (handstock) with a shorter stick (swipple or swingle) attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.

   Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail, Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail

   1816, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan

   3 more examples

   When in one night, ere glimpse of morn, His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn That ten day-labourers could not end;

   1631, John Milton, L'Allegro

   On him alone the curse of Cain Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain, And struck him to the earth!

   1842, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Slave in the Dismal Swamp

   If the farmer must use the spade because he has not capital enough for a plough, the sickle instead of the reaping machine, the flail instead of the thresher...

   1879, Henry George, chapter V, in Progress and Poverty

   Synonyms: frail, thrashel, threshel

2. A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.
3. oftenpluralPart of a rotating device, often used for cutting vegetation.

   The carriage washing plant uses four pairs of rotating rag flails and will be capable of dealing with the whole of the diesel units as well as steam stock used for main-line trains.

   1957 December 28, “Diesel Depot for Darlington”, in Railway Magazine, page 876

present singular third person flails · participle present flailing · participle past flailed · past flailed

1. transitiveTo beat using a flail or similar implement.
2. transitiveTo wave or swing vigorously

   He stopped in his tracks – then, flailing his arms wildly in the air, began to stagger backwards.

   1937, H. P. Lovecraft, The Evil Clergyman

   1 more example

   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

3. transitiveTo thresh.
4. intransitiveTo move like a flail.

   He was flailing wildly, but didn't land a blow.

   1 more example

   Undismayed he continued to flail with the broken half of it, denting many a helmet[.]

   1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 46