flapper
One who or that which flaps.
Noun
- One who or that which flaps.
- It seems the minds of these people are so taken up with intense speculations, that they neither can speak, nor attend to the discourses of others, without being roused by some external taction upon the organs of speech...
- A young game bird just able to fly, particularly a wild duck.
- Small fish, and frog and fish spawn are also eaten, and the ducklings feed upon many species of animalculæ, flies, pollywogs and worms, etc., disturbed by heavy rains which wash the banks, while the young ducks are...
- A flipper; a limb of a turtle, which functions as a flipper or paddle when swimming.
- the flapper of a porpoise - 1876, Arabella B. Buckley, A Short History of Natural Science and of the Progress of Discovery from the Time of the Greeks to the Present Day:
- It was still too shallow for the turtle to swim, but it used its four flappers with so much effect against its two assailants, as to give them a thorough shower-bath. - 1878, William H. G. Kingston, The Three Admirals,...
- A flapper valve.
- In this case, slide the collar of the flapper over the overflow tube until it seats against the bottom of the flush valve. - 2004, David Day, Albert Jackson, Popular Mechanics Complete Home How-to, page 356:
- The hand.
Synonyms: flipper
Origin
Etymology tree English flap Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English flapper From flap (verb) + -er.
Forms
Derived
fire flapper flapper board flapper skate flapper valve flyflapper
Noun colloquial, historical
- A young girl usually between the ages of 15 and 18, especially one not "out" socially.
- Stud's eyes roved. Plenty of girls, most of them young flappers, Loretta's age. Only a couple of years ago they were kids. - 1934, James T. Farrell, chapter 16, in The Young Manhood of Studs Lonigan:
- A young woman, especially when unconventional or without decorum or displaying daring freedom or boldness; now particularly associated with the Jazz Age of the 1920s.
- I paid violent and unusual attention to a flapper all through the meal in order to make you jealous. She's probably in her cabin writing reams about me to a fellow-flapper at this very moment. - 1910, Saki [pseudonym;...
- "Now," said the young man cheerfully to Ardita, who had witnessed this last scene in withering silence, "if you will swear on your honor as a flapper—which probably isn't worth much—that you'll keep that spoiled little...
- Concern—and consternation—about the flapper are general. She disports herself flagrantly in the public eye, and there is no keeping her out of grown-up company or conversation. - 1922 April 16, Margaret O'Leary, “More...
Origin
possible etymologies Possibly from Victorian sporting slang, meaning young wildfowl in August which are full-sized, tender and worthwhile quarry, but are naive and unable to fly properly due to the late development of flight feathers in ducks and geese. Alternative derivations are also suggested. The word "flap" was slang in the 17th century for a prostitute: by the late 19th century in England "flapper" could mean either a very young prostitute: or a teenage girl too old to be a child and too young to be considered 'out' in society: "A 'flapper', we may explain, is a young lady who has not yet been promoted to long frocks and the wearing of her hair 'up'". The earliest documented use in the sense of "attractive young girl" is in the 1903 novel Sandford of Merton by Desmond Coke: "There's a stunning flapper.". The word also suggested a spirited girl of unconventional or mischievous...
Forms
Related
Derived
flapperdom flapperesque flapperhood flapperish flapperism flapper pie
Noun climbing, hobbies
- Any injury that results in a loose flap of skin on the fingers, making gripping difficult.
Origin
Etymology tree English flap Proto-Indo-European *-yósder. Proto-Italic *-āzijos Latin -āriusnom. Latin -āriusbor. Proto-Germanic *-ārijaz Proto-West Germanic *-ārī Old English -ere Middle English -ere English -er English flapper From flap (noun) + -er.