| 释义 |
▪ I. flap, n.|flæp|
Forms: 4–7 flappe (6 flepe), 7–8 flapp, 5– flap.
[f. next vb.; cf. Du. flap blow, fly-flapper, lid of a can.]
I. The action of the vb. flap.
†1.
a. A blow, slap, stroke. Also fig. Obs.
c1330Arth. & Merl. 8084 With fauchouns, axes and battes, Ich gaue other sori flappes. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 67 This freke..Preched of penaunces..And flappes of scourges. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 206, I shalle lene you a flap, My strengthe for to kythe. 1535Stewart Cron. Scot. I. 382 Thair freikis fell with mony fercie flap.
b. A blow given with something broad and loose (cf. 2). Also fig. † a flap with a fox tail: fig. ? a contemptuous dismissal; a trivial rebuke (cf. flap v. 2 d).
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 38 So that he [the lawyer] gaineth alwaies..whereas the other get a warme Sonne often tymes, and a flappe with a Foxe taile, for all that euer thei haue spente. 1598Florio, Faggiolata, a flim-flam tale..a flap with a foxetaile. 1653A. Wilson Inconst. Lady iii. i, Liquorish flies do sometimes meet with flaps. 1717Will of S. Jackson, If the Beadle make any demand..send him away with a Flapp of a Fox taile. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. ii. 17 This Flapper is..employed..to give him a soft Flap on his Eyes. 1727Gay Lady & Wasp 8 The slightest flap a fly can chase. a1734North Exam. i. ii. §84 (1740) 75, I found another Flap for the House of Peers.
2. a. ‘The motion of something broad and loose’ (J.), as a wing or a fly-flapper; the noise produced by its motion, or by contact with some other object. Cf. flap v. 5.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) V. 9 The flap of a swan's wing would break a man's leg. 1816Byron Siege Cor. xxii, The flap of the banners, that flit as they're borne. 1823Scott Peveril ix, The flap of their wings must have been gracious in the ear of the famished prophet. 1859Kingsley Misc. (1860) I. 152, I can hear the flap and snort of the dogs' nostrils. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. i. 226 A gnat can execute many thousand flaps of its little wings in a second.
b. A consonant sound produced by a flapping motion of the tongue.
[1867A. M. Bell Visible Speech 57 The subsequent removal of the centre obstruction is attended with a slightly percussive flap, which is the essential characteristic of the class of ‘Divided’ Consonants.] 1887Encycl. Brit. XXII. 383/1 Glides to and from Flaps.—Flaps are consonants where there is a slack organ which flaps with the breath as it passes. 1888H. Sweet Hist. Eng. Sounds 12 The most distinct glide-consonants are the flaps, of which the Norwegian ‘thick’ l is an example. 1950D. Jones Phoneme p. xiii, Single flap tongue-tip r. 1968P. M. Postal Aspects Phonol. Theory ii. 24 Both are pronounced with the same voiced flap [D] as medial consonant.
c. colloq. fig. A state of worry, agitation, fuss, or excitement. Esp. in phrases, to be in, get in(to), a flap. Also spec., an alert (military sense). (Cf. flap v. 10 b; unflappable a.)
1916In Northern Mists xliv. 188 Sometimes our departures are more than usually sudden and unexpected. The whole proceeding then becomes what is known amongst us as ‘a Flap’. 1925Fraser & Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 95 A flap: the familiar Navy term for the sudden ‘liveliness’ on board ship on the arrival of an emergency order involving general activity at extreme high pressure... Also, an airman's term for an air-raid. 1936Punch 2 Sept. 265/1 At the moment there is a flap because the price of bread is going up. 1939Ibid. 30 Aug. 231 Now don't go and get into a flap or anything, Mother, but Joan's broken her arm. 1940‘Gun Buster’ Return via Dunkirk i. x. 78 Then happened one of our monthly ‘flaps’ (invasion scares). 1942W. Simpson One of our Pilots is Safe ii. 39 From then on until the 10th May, when the blitz started in Holland and Belgium, we were subjected to a series of ‘flaps’. Ibid. 40 Get your flight up right away, there's a flap on. 1945E. Waugh Brideshead Revisited 14 ‘D'you think it's the real thing?’ ‘No.’ ‘Just a flap?’ ‘Yes.’ 1949H. Pakington Young Wm. Washbourne xx. 186 There was a sense of something afoot. ‘What's the flap?’ asked William of the man whose watch he was relieving. ‘Only our battle-cruisers engaging the enemy,’ replied the other. 1956W. Slim Defeat into Victory xi. 236 Everything was working smoothly, there was no flap. 1960Cambr. Rev. 7 May 510/2 It is quite untrue to say that emotionally vulnerable patients who ‘get into a flap’ over exams will subsequently panic when a real situation threatens them in later life.
II. Concrete uses.
†3. Something broad to strike with; esp. a fly-flapper. Obs.
c1440Promp. Parv. 163 Flappe, instrumente to smyte wythe flyys. c1515Cocke Lorell's B. (Percy Soc.) 2 In his hande he bare a flap for flyes. 1558T. Phaer æneid v. Argt. L iv b, Y⊇ game called Cœstus (which is fighting with bagges or flappes of leather hanging by stringes, wherin is either lead or sand). 1624Heywood Captives i. i. in Bullen O. Pl. IV, The butchers wyves..stood with theire flapps in theire hands like fanns. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. ii. 19 A young Man with a Flap came up to my side, and flapt me gently on the Right Ear.
4. a. ‘Anything that hangs broad and loose, fastened only by one side’ (J.).
1522Skelton Why not to Court 1166 With a flap afore his eye. 1606Shakes. Tr. & Cr. v. i. 36 Thou greene Sarcenet flap for a sore eye. 1668Wilkins Real Char. 131 The lesser..having small roundish flapps on either side of the body. 1704Lond. Gaz. No. 4058/6 A Negro Boy..the Flap of one of his Ears being cut off. 1849Parkman Oregon Tr. (1872) 192, I put aside the leather flap that covered the low opening. 1891Kipling Light that Failed x, [He] gave him a letter with a black M on the envelope flap.
b. A pendant portion of a garment, hat, or cap. Hence applied to the garment or hat itself (slang).
1530Palsgr. 220/2 Flappe of a gowne, cappe. 1590Greene Mourn. Garm. (1616) 11 His coat was greene..Turned ouer with a flappe. 1632Sherwood, The flap, or back point of a friers cowle, cabuër. 1699W. Dampier Voy. II. iii. 64 We spread abroad the Flaps of our Coats. 1707Hearne Collect. 14 Sept., An armfull of ym he took home, covering them with one flap of his Gown. 1713Swift Frenzy J. Dennis, The flap of his breeches dangled between his legs. 1792F. Burney Let. to Mrs. Phillips Nov., An old-fashioned suit of clothes, with long flaps to a waistcoat [etc.]. 1875Plain Needlework 18 The old-fashioned shift with flaps. 1892C. T. Dent Mountaineering iv. 104 Tying the flaps of his hat over his ears.
c. Of a saddle; also transf.
1849Murchison Siluria v. 95 A geological saddle, having one thin and partly metamorphosed flap only on the east side. 1886Encycl. Brit. XXI. 142/1 The saddle..consists of the tree..the seat, the skirts, and the flaps.
d. The tail of a crustacean.
1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. VI. 373 The spawn..sticks to the barbs under the flap, or more properly the tail [of the crab]. 1842H. Miller O.R. Sandst. viii. (ed. 2) 173 The terminal flap of this gigantic crustacean was..continuous.
e. (See quot.)
1669W. Hacke Orig. Voy. (1699) III. 62 Penguins..have neither Feathers nor Wings, but only two Fins or Flaps, wherewith they are helped to swim.
5. a. Something broad and flat, hanging or working (vertically) on or as on a hinge.
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Biforis, Bifore fenestræ..with two flappes. 1754A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 103 ⁋9 One Table, the Flap broken. 1825J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 140 He makes each sail..to consist of six or eight flaps or vanes..moving upon hinges. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge iv, It [the cellar] had a great black wooden flap or shutter. 1859Musketry Instr. 71 The first and second class men..should be trained to fire at 300 and 400 yards with the flap of back-sight down. 1867Trollope Chron. Barset I. iv. 27 There was a table..one flap of it was gone altogether.
b. A valve. tide flap: a valve used to shut off the tide-water from a sewer.
1824R. Stuart Hist. Steam Engine 151, c,c,c, are the valves or flaps. 1869Lonsdale Gloss., Flap, the leather or valve of a pump. 1884Health Exhib. Catal. 55/2 A Collection of Sanitary Iron work, such as..tide flaps, &c. 1892Pall Mall G. 7 Sept. 1/3 We descend to the other side of the ‘flap’—the men's term for a ‘penstock’.
c. Anat. † (a) The epiglottis. Obs. (b) In fishes: The operculum or gill-cover; a similar cover for the nostril.
c1550H. Lloyd Treas. Health H iv, Agaynst al grefes in the flap beinge in the mouth whyche couereth the wind pipe. 1681W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1224 The cover or flap of the throat, epiglossis. 1802Bingley Anim. Biog. (1813) I. 37 They fill their mouth with water, then throw it backwards with so much force as to lift open the great flap, and force it out behind. 1881Günther in Encycl. Brit. XII. 637 Nostrils of Raia lemprieri, with nasal flaps reverted.
d. One of the floats of a paddle-wheel.
1840Thackeray Catherine vi, The Ensign's arms were working up and down..like the flaps of a paddle wheel.
e. Aeronaut. (Also wing-flap) = aileron. (The word has been applied to various kinds of hinged or sliding sections at the leading or trailing edge of the wing or tail of an aircraft, the primary function of which is to modify the lift.)
1906Sci. Amer. 18 Aug. 116/3 One part of the wing..is formed of a series of longitudinal flaps, fixed at the edges to a wire gauze network, so that the flap is made to close when the wing is brought down, but keeps open when the wing is raised. 1909Flight 27 Nov. 755/2 Small triangular planes are fitted above the extremities of the wings... The rudder is put over for steering to the right and simultaneously the flap above the extremity of the right-hand wing-tip is raised. 1911Reports & Mem. (Adv. Comm. Aeronaut.) Nov. 100 It would be useful to know..whether the wing flaps should be additional to the width of the wing,..or whether the extra efficiency of warping indicates the abandonment of flaps altogether. 1921Aeronaut. Jrnl. June 274 Flap Experiments with Slotted Aerofoil. An increase in the lift coefficient can be obtained by the use of a plane with flaps and altering the angle of incidence of these flaps. 1930Engineering 14 Feb. 189/2 The vertical top and bottom flaps, which form the rudders, and the horizontal port and starboard flaps, which form the elevators, have each a span of about 44 ft. 1941A. O. Pollard Bombers over Reich xi. 154 With flaps out of action. 1971Air Enthusiast June 22/1 Possibilities of modifying the wing leading edge profile or using a leading-edge flap were eventually discarded.
6. a. Something broad and loose, irrespectively of connexion with anything else; esp. an overlying layer; a broad piece of any material.
1603Florio Montaigne (1634) 187 We are all framed of flaps and patches and of so shapelesse and diverse a contexture, that [etc.]. a1634Randolph Hey for Honesty v. Wks. (1875) 474 A rump or a flap of mutton were a fee For Jove's own breakfast. 1764Foote Mayor of G. i. Wks. 1799 I. 173 The damn'd fat flaps of shoulders of mutton. 1843Thackeray Contrib. to Punch Wks. 1886 XXIV. 145 The flap of a shoulder of mutton..I ate cold. 1848― Bk. Snobs i, We..had flaps of bread for plates. 1866Daily Tel. 18 Jan. 5/2 Large flaps of swine's flesh..make their appearance at breakfast. 1884Bower & Scott De Bary's Phaner. 114 The great flaps of cork on the cortex of Boswellia papyrifera. 1889Barrère & Leland Slang, Flap (thieves), sheet lead for roofs.
b. A large, broad mushroom. Also flab 1.
1743Pickering in Phil. Trans. XLII. 598 The thin Filament is that to which the Edges of the Head of the Mushroom adhere, while it is, what is commonly called, a Button, and from which it separates by expanding to a Flap. 1769Mrs. Raffald Eng. Housekpr. (1778) 361 Scrape large flaps..and boil them in their own liquor. 1854Eng. Cycl. I. 90/1 The common mushroom..in this state..is called a flap.
†c. collect. Scraps. Obs.—0.
1730–6Bailey (folio), Flap, moist meat for hogs.
d. A loose covering for the lower part of the abdomen. U.S.
[1701C. Wolley Jrnl. N.Y. (1860) 29 A piece of Cloth about a yard and a half long, put between their groins, tied with a Snake's Skin about their middle, and hanging down with a flap before.] 1813Niles' Weekly Reg. V. 270/1 The fort was attacked by 725 Indians..; they were entirely naked, except a flap. 1846J. J. Hooper Adv. Simon Suggs 113 Generally there are two or three hundred [Indians]..engaged in the sport at once; all naked except the ‘flap’. 1919C. G. Raht Romance Davis Mts. 54 The clothing..consisted usually of leggings..the breech clout, or ‘flap’.
7. Surg.
a. A portion of skin or flesh, separated from the underlying part, but remaining attached at the base.
1807–26S. Cooper First Lines Surg. (ed. 5) 377 Placing the flap of the cornea in regular contact with the part with which it was naturally joined. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. xii. 127 A flap let down from his forehead. 1878T. Bryant Pract. Surg. I. 536 The flaps were reflected and a large gland enucleated.
b. A piece of flesh or skin grafted upon an injured or defective part.
1813J. Thomson Lect. Inflam. 225 The mode of repairing noses by a flap or portion of flesh taken from the arm. 1894Westm. Gaz. 31 Aug. 3/1 The grafting upon the injured..part of flaps of skin taken..from a neighbouring surface.
8. pl. in Farriery. A disease in the mouth of horses.
1587L. Mascall Govt. Cattel ii. (1600) 163 Giges or flappes, is pimples or teates in the inside of his [a horse's] mouth. 1610Markham Masterp. i. xii. 32 Swelling in the mouth, a signe either of canker, flaps, or lampasse. 17..Farrier's Dict. (J.), When a horse has the flaps, you may perceive his lips swelled on both sides of his mouth. 1847Youatt Horse viii. 206 The sublingual glands..sometimes enlarge..and are called gigs, and bladders, and flaps in the mouth.
9. dial. or slang. A woman or girl of light or loose character.
1631Mabbe Celestina ix. 110 Fall to your flap, my Masters, kisse and clip. Ibid. 112 Come hither, you foule flappes. 1892Northumbld. Gloss. s.v., A young giddy girl is called a flap, or a woman who does not settle down to her domestic duties.
III. attrib. and Comb.
10. General relations, as flap-basket, flap-board, flap-door, flap-down, flap ear(s), flap-seat, flap-shutter, flap-top, flap-trap, flap-valve, flap-window (sense 5); flap-eared adjs.
1862Sat. Rev. XIV. 186/2 He goes out to all Lancashire with his little *flap-basket, and doles out..his two ounces of tea.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §2031 A *flap-board. 1899W. C. Morrow Bohem. Paris 269 The bleeding trunk of the victim lying upon the flap-board.
1844Zoologist II. 748 The *flap-door of a glass hive is opened. 1881Raymond Mining Gloss., Flap-door, a man⁓hole door.
1937Archit. Rev. LXXXII. 57/1 The drinks-cupboard is in mahogany, and has a rubber-faced *flap-down serving⁓board.
1922Joyce Ulysses 170 Look at his mouth. Could whistle in his own ear. *Flap ears to match. 1959I. & P. Opie Lore & Lang. Schoolch. x. 183 Nosey people are known as: Flap-ears, Keyhole Kates, Nosey-Parkers [etc.].
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 160 A horson beetle-headed *flap-ear'd knaue.
1891Daily News 4 Feb. 3/4 Mr. Samuel asked why *flap-seats were permitted at Drury-lane Theatre.
1867Sutton & Dawson Dict. Photogr. 156 Some use *flap-shutters in front of the lens.
1927R. A. Freeman Certain Dr. Thorndyke xv. 225 A large, old-fashioned *flap-top desk.
1858Skyring's Builders' Prices Advt., *Flap Traps..always kept in Stock.
1867W. W. Smyth Coal & Coal-mining 211 The chambers are fitted..with *flap valves. 1874Knight Dict. Mech. I. 876/2 Flap-valve, a valve which opens and shuts upon one hinged side. A clack-valve.
1825Beverley Lighting Act ii. 19 Leave open..the door, hatchway or *flap-window.
11. Special comb.: flap-apple = flap-jack 1 b; flap-dock (also flap-dick, flap-a-dock), local names for the foxglove; flap-fracture = compound fracture; flap-hat, one having flaps or a flapping brim; flap-holder (see quot.); flap-leg, the leg that supports a flap of a table; flap-mouth, a mouth with broad, hanging lips (whence flap-mouthed adj.); flap-operation Med. (see quot. 1884); flap-sight, in a rifle, one that turns up or down on a hinge; flap table, one with a hinged flap, a leaf table; flap-wing dial., the swift.
1750W. Ellis Country Housewife 25 Turnover, or *Flap-Apple, or Meat Pasties.
1846E. Anglia Gloss. Suppl., *Flapdock, foxglove.
1658A. Fox Wurtz' Surg. ii. xxvi. 165, I call this a *Flap-fracture, when the Wound of the broken leg goeth onely through the flesh and skin, and cometh forth with the one end.
1866Browning in Mrs. Orr Life (1891) 275 Great black *flap hats.
1884Knight Dict. Mech. IV. 346/1 *Flap Holder (Surgical), a delicate prehensile instrument for holding flaps of sutures in confined situations.
1882Sala Amer. Revis. (1885) 98 A *flap-leg was let down; and..a table was improvised.
1631P. Fletcher Sicelides iii. iv, F ij b, So, haue you done? Fie *flapmouth. Triton, thou beslauerest me.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 920 Another *flapmouthd mourner..volies out his voyce. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iv. ii. (Arb.) 51 Begin thou Furor, and open like a phlaphmouthd hound.
1785T. Jones in Med. Commun. IX. 326 (title) Case of a *Flap Operation, united by first Intention. 1884Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v. Flap operation, a method of amputation in which a..portion of the skin is reflected from the subjacent soft parts before these and the bones are divided.
1887Rider Haggard Allan Quatermain (1888) 66 One of the repeaters..fitted with ordinary *flap sights.
1833Loudon Encycl. Archit. §613 An ironing-board, or *flap table. 1924Kipling Debits & Credits (1926) 183 His pitch-pine-lined caravan, with..its flap-table.
1834H. O'Brien Round Towers Irel. 38 This, it may be said, is applying a steam engine to crush a *flapwing.
▪ II. flap, v.|flæp|
Also 4–6 flapp(e.
[prob. of onomatopœic origin; cf. clap, slap, flack, etc. Equivalent words in form and sense are Du. flappen to strike, clap, Ger. flappen to clap, applaud.]
†1.
a. trans. To strike with a sudden blow. Also with down, in sunder. In later use chiefly implying a stroke with a blunt weapon. Obs. exc. dial.
a1400Morte Arth. 2782 Alle þe flesche of þe flanke he flappes in sondyre. c1477Caxton Jason 67 b, A grete whirling or tourbillion cam sodaynly and flapped him on the visage. 1526Skelton Magnyf. 1525, I shall flappe hym as a fole to fall at my fete. 1843T. Wilson Pitman's Pay ii. lxxvii, Flap her doun at yence wi' pouther.
†b. intr. or absol. Obs.
1362Langl. P. Pl. A. vii. 174 And flapten on with fleiles from morwe til euen. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xii. ix. (1495) 419 A storke..smytyth other flappyth with his bylle. c1400Destr. Troy 7674 Tedius..flappit at hym felly with a fyne swerde. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 206 Now falle I the fyrst to flap on hys hyde.
†c. to flap in the mouth (with a lie): to tell a barefaced falsehood to. Also, to flap the lie in one's teeth. Obs.
1579Lyly Euphues (Arb.) 68, I will flappe Ferardo in the mouth with some conceipt. 1611Cotgr., Emboucher d'vn mensonge..to..flap in the mouth, with an (apparant) lie. c1645Howell Lett. (1650) III. xxiii. 37 They will flap the lie in Truths teeth. 1654Fuller Comm. Ruth (1868) 162 So many children flap their parents in the mouth with a lie.
2. a. To strike with something flexible and broad (e.g. a fly-flapper); to drive away or off; to put out (a light) as with a blow so given.
c1400Destr. Troy 11795 Ten tymes be-tyde..þat hit fest was on fyre, & flappit out onone Vnto smorther & smoke. c1440Promp. Parv. 164 Flappyn wythe a flappe, flabello. 1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 201 When many flies stode feedyng vpon his rawe fleshe..he was contented..to haue them flapte awaie. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 966 With the rest of his taile he flapped and beat her legges. 1677Compl. Servant-Maid 68 Take a clean linen cloth and gently flap it [the lace] over oftentimes. 1726Swift Gulliver iii. ii. 16 With these Bladders they now and then flapped the Mouths and Ears of those who stood near them. 1735Pope Prol. Sat. 309 Yet let me flap this bug with gilded wings. 1842Tennyson St. Sim. Styl. 172 They flapp'd my light out as I read. 1843Le Fevre Life Trav. Phys. I. i. i. 7, I was assured that two men would run before me to flap away the flies.
b. Of a bird: To strike with the flat of the wing; also to drive off (etc.) by flapping.
1585J. B. tr. Viret's Sch. Beastes D j, When the female tarieth over long in the feeldes, they [Pygeons] flappe them with their winges. 1601Holland Pliny I. 271 Flapping the water with their wings. 1694R. L'Estrange Fables ccclxxviii, The Eagle Flapt off the former [the Beetle], and Devoured the other [the Hare]. 1813Busby Lucretius iv. 847 The cock..flaps away the darkness with his wings. 1819J. H. Wiffen Aonian Hours (1820) 76 Night's shrieking bird Flaps the friezed window with her wing. 1827Tennant Papistry Storm'd 62 They [doves] forc'd and flappit to the yird That spulyier and fae.
c. fig. To call the attention of, as if with a flap; to prompt, remind. Cf. quot. 1726 in 2 and flapper 1.
1790F. Burney Diary 20 May, ‘He wants nothing..but a flapper’. ‘Yes, and he takes flapping inimitably’. 1888Contemp. Rev. LIII. 13 They..despatched an agent to London to ‘flap’ the Colonial Office.
d. intr. To make a flap or stroke. Also with down. † to flap at (something) with a fox's tail: said fig. of a lenient or pretended reproof.
1581Lambarde Eiren. iv. xvi. (1588) 582 This is but..to strike or flap at a fault with a Foxe taile, and none other. c1839Landor Imag. Conv. Wks. (1846) II. 108, I flap down with the border of my glove, and brush away..these gossamer pretensions.
†3.
a. trans. To clap (the hands).
b. intr. To clap, applaud. Also quasi-trans. To clap (applause); to signify by clapping. Obs.
1382Wyclif Prov. xvii. 18 A fool man shal for ioȝe flappe with hondis. ― Jer. v. 31 Prestus flappeden for ioȝe their hondes. 1583Stanyhurst Aeneis i. (Arb.) 42 Thee Moors hands clapping, the Troians, plaudite, flapped.
4. a. trans. To toss with a smart movement; to throw down suddenly; to fold together roughly. Also, to toss (a pancake). Obs. exc. dial.
c1320Seuyn Sag. (W.) 766 The greihond..hente the adder in strong ger, And flapped here al aboute his er. 1644R. Culmer Cathedrall Newes Canterbury 5 The maid..went to bed, leaving the Ruffe flapt together as her mistris had stampt it. 1847Halliwell, Flap a froize, to turn it in the pan without touching it. 1877N.W. Linc. Gloss., ‘He flapped th' newspaper doon upo' th' floor.’
b. intr. To fall or throw oneself down suddenly; to flop. colloq.
1660Fisher Rusticks Alarm Wks. (1679) 448 He..flaps suddainly down into a piece of Cow-dung. 1753Foote Eng. in Paris i. Wks. 1799 I. 36 Souse she flapp'd on her back. 1834S. R. Maitland Voluntary Syst. (1837) 89 They..flap down on their knees before the Bishop. 1865Carlyle Fredk. Gt. VIII. xviii. xiii. 50 Soldiers flap-down to drink it from the puddles.
5. a. intr. Of anything attached at one extremity or loosely fastened: To swing or sway about loosely; to flutter or oscillate as when moved by the wind. Often with the additional notion of making a noise by striking against something, or by the reciprocal concussion of the parts.
1529Skelton Elynour Rummyng 136 Naked pappes, That flyppes and flappes. c1620Z. Boyd Zion's Flowers (1855) 9 I'le let the Main Saile flap against the yard. 1635Quarles Embl. iii. xi, My Canvace torn, it flaps from side to side. 1644Digby Nat. Bodies (1645) 370 This Diaphragma..flappeth upon all occasions, as a drum head would do, if it were slack and moyst. 1796Southey Ball. & Metr. T., Rudiger Poems VI. 21 The long streamer fluttering fast, Flapp'd to the heavy gale. 1805Wordsw. Waggoner Concl. 50 When windows flap. 1815J. W. Croker in Croker Papers (1884) July, We are now lying at sea with our sails flapping. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge lv, The cheery deep-red curtains flapped and fluttered idly in the wind. 1876E. Jenkins Blot Queen's Head 7 Proud of their sign-board wherever it flapped and shone. 1877Holderness Gloss., Flap, to close or shut with violence. ‘Shut deear or it'll flap teea, ther's sike a wind.’
b. trans. (causal) To cause to flap; to move (any surface) percussively. Also, to shut (a door) to sharply.
1565–73Cooper Thesaurus s.v. Plango, Windes flap togither wide garments in the aire. 1727Swift Further Acc. E. Curll, His books..flapping their covers at him. 1801Southey Thalaba iii. ix, I hear the wind, that flaps The curtain of the tent. 1801Lusignan II. 164, I..flapped my door to, and locked it.
6. a. intr. Of a hat: To have the flap or flaps swaying up and down or drooping.
1679Trials of White, & Other Jesuits 82 He had an old black Hat on that flapp'd. 1712–3Guardian No. 11 ⁋9 He was so ill that his hat began to flap.
b. trans. To pull down the flaps of (a hat).
1751Smollett Per. Pic. (1779) III. lxxviii. 41 They had flapped their hats over their eyes. 1758Johnson Idler No. 49 ⁋3 It began to rain..he flapped his hat. 1840Dickens Barn. Rudge i, Wearing a hat flapped over his face.
7. a. trans. To move up and down, beat (the wings).
1567Golding Ovid's Metam. vi. 116 But that she clad in feathers white hir lazie wings must flap. 1703W. Dampier Voy. III. 115 They flew flapping their Wings like Lap⁓wings. 1740Somerville Hobbinol ii. 190 The luxurious Wasp..in the viscous Nectar plung'd, His filmy Pennons struggling flaps in vain. 1874Wood Nat. Hist. 287 The Swift does not flap its wings so often as the Swallow.
b. absol. and intr. To beat the wings; to make movements like the beating of wings. Also of wings: To move up and down, beat.
1697Dryden æneid Ded. d iv, The Dira..flapping on the shield of Turnus. a1704R. L'Estrange (J.), 'Tis common for a duck to run flapping and fluttering away. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 87 They [leaves] flap and whistle down. 1823Byron Island iv. xiii, While o'er them flapp'd the sea⁓birds' dewy wing. 1842Hood Turtles vii, Five splendid Turtles..Were flapping all alive. 1865Tylor Early Hist. Man. ii. 21 Flap with the arms. 1874T. Hardy Madding Crowd II. vii. 81 A light flapped over the scene, as if reflected from phosphorescent wings.
c. fig. colloq. phr. to have one's ears flapping and var., to listen attentively.
1925Wodehouse Carry on, Jeeves i. 26 It was the work of a moment with me to..dive into a bush..and stand there with my ears flapping. 1937M. Allingham Dancers in Mourning ix. 124 The next thing Konrad heard—and he must have sat there with his ears flappin'—was Sutane sayin', ‘I don't want you.’ 1955M. Gilbert Sky High vi. 80 We never..ask any questions but..we manage to keep our ears flapping. 1959G. Mitchell Man who grew Tomatoes x. 137 I'm sure he followed us. Didn't you notice him flapping his ears when you were talking to the receptionist? 1967‘M. Erskine’ Case with 3 Husbands ii. 33 You get on and explain them... Harris, I can see, has his ears positively flapping.
8. intr. (with advb. extension).
a. Of a bird: To make way by flapping the wings.
b. Of a ship: To make way with the sails flapping. (Cf. 5.)
1775Clayton in Phil. Trans. LXVI. 104 They..only swim and flap along on the water at an extraordinary rate. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. ix. (1856) 63 We pursued our way, flapping lazily alongside of the ‘pack’. 1870Kingsley in Gd. Words 1 June 38/1 A slate-blue heron..flapped fifty yards up the creek.
9.
†a. trans. to flap open: to throw open like a flap: see flap n. 5.
b. intr. To move like a flap.
1669W. Simpson Hydrol. Chym. 97 Gas.. getting passage..flaps open the Œsophagus. 1834–5Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 658/1 The valves flap together and close that opening.
10. a. slang. (See quots.)
1885Daily Tel. 18 Aug. 3/1 {pstlg}70..obtained by flapping a jay. 1889Barrère & Leland Slang, Flap the dimmock, to pay. Ibid., Flap, to rob, to swindle; ‘to flap a jay’, to swindle a greenhorn.
b. intr. colloq. To speak (anxiously) about; to be upset; to become agitated; to fuss; to panic. (Cf. flap n. 2 c.) Also (trans.) to flap one's mouth.
[1870G. Meredith Let. 27 Jan. (1970) I. 415 Out flaps the big girl with a whinny, Fire! Fire!] 1910H. G. Wells Mr. Polly vii. 166 You go flapping your silly mouth about me, and I'll give you a poke in the eye. 1912Kipling Diversity of Creatures (1917) 40 ‘We're a nice lot to flap about governing the Planet,’ De Forest laughed. 1927J. Elder Thomasina Toddy ix, ‘Anne's a jolly nice person,’ she said to Stella. ‘Not bad. Nothing to flap about,’ said Stella. Ibid. xxii, ‘It's beastly, being so little,’ she said crossly. Anne..said ‘But it doesn't matter, Tom. You mustn't let it. It's silly to flap about things which can't be remedied.’ 1943Hunt & Pringle Service Slang 32 A person who can't ‘cope’ or who is very nervous is told to stop ‘flapping’. 1952J. Cannan Body in Beck viii. 171 My mamma flaps about my climbing, he said, and I said..it's no more dangerous than crossing the Corn. 1959J. Verney Friday's Tunnel iii. 39 Mummy..burst into tears. I put my arm round her waist. ‘Please don't flap.’
†11. The verb stem used adverbially: With a flap or clap. Obs.—1 Cf. flop.
1716Cibber Love makes Man i. i, About eight a Clock..flap! They all sous'd upon their Knees. |