Webster's English Dictionary

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flail

1. flail \'fla-(*)l\ n [ME fleil, flail, partly fr. (assumed) OE flegel 
   (akin to OHG] flegil flail; both fr. a prehistoric WGmc word borrowed fr. 
   LL flagellum flail, fr. L, whip) & partly fr. MF flaiel, fr. LL flagellum - 
   more at FLAGELLATE : a hand threshing implement consisting of a wooden 
   handle at the end of w hich a stouter and shorter stick is so hung as to 
   swing freely
2. flail vt 1: to strike with or as if with a flail  2: to thresh with a 
   flail  : to engage in flailing : THRASH {~ed away at each  other}