mudflap

Meanings

nounmudflap (plural mudflaps)

A rectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a motor vehicle (especially a truck) to prevent mud or rocks from being thrown up (by the wheel), either onto the body panels or into the path of vehicles following behind.
Yohji Yamamoto showed Alpine knits with cropped black trousers, fresh-looking coats in vanilla-colored wool, and knits and other wool colors embellished with the sort of female pinup images you see on old gas-station calendars or on the mudflaps of an 18-wheeler.
2007 February 1, Cathy Horyn, “The Good, the Bad, the Amusing”, in New York Times

Also see

From mud + flap.

Bulgarian калобран

калобран (kalobran)rectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Dutch spatlap

spatlaprectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Finnish roiskeläppä

roiskeläppärectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

French bavette

bavetterectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Hungarian sárfogó gumi, sárvédő lebeny

sárfogó gumirectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle
sárvédő lebenyrectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Malay kepak lumpur

kepak lumpurrectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Māori pare po(w)haru

pare po(w)harurectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Polish chlapacz

chlapaczrectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Russian брызгови́к

брызгови́к (bryzgovík)rectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Spanish guardabarros

guardabarrosrectangular flap mounted near the wheel of a truck to prevent mud from being thrown up onto the vehicle

Cite this entry

APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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