1. (of wings) move up and down with a thrashing motion
   "The bird flapped its wings";
   - beat
    
2. Move in a wavy pattern or with a rising and falling motion
   "the waves flapped towards the beach";
   - roll, undulate, wave
    
3. Move with a flapping motion
   "The bird's wings were flapping";
   - beat
    
4. To flutter noisily when moved by the wind
   "flags flapped in the strong wind"
    
5. Make a fuss; be agitated
   "He flapped about uselessly during the crisis";
   - dither, pother
    
6. Pronounce with a flap, of alveolar sounds
   "In American English, the 't' in 'water' is often flapped"

1. Any broad thin and limber covering attached at one edge; hangs loose or projects freely
   "he wrote on the flap of the envelope"
    
2. A movable airfoil that is part of an aircraft wing; used to increase lift or drag
   "The pilot lowered the flaps as the plane prepared for landing";
   - flaps
    
3. [informal] An excited state of agitation
   "there was a terrible flap about the theft";
   - dither, pother, fuss, tizzy [informal], tizz [informal]
    
4. The motion made by flapping up and down
   "The flap of the bird's wings could be heard across the pond";
   - flapping, flutter, fluttering
    
5. A movable piece of tissue partly connected to the body
   "The surgeon created a skin flap to cover the wound"

Derived forms: flapped, flapping, flaps

Type of: aerofoil [Brit], agitation, airfoil [N. Amer], animal tissue, articulate, beat, control surface, covering, displace, enounce [archaic], enunciate, fret, fuss, move, niggle, pound, pronounce, say, sound out, surface, thump, undulation, wave

Part of: wing

Encyclopedia: Flap