flap

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To move up and down or back and forth, especially wings.

   The bird flapped its wings and flew away.

2. 2
   noun

   A flat piece of something that hangs down or covers an opening.

   He lifted the flap of the envelope to read the letter.

3. 3
   noun

   A state of worry or excitement; a fuss.

   The comment caused quite a flap in the newspapers.

Appears in

Simplified etymology

Flap is a Middle English word, probably formed in imitation of the sound of something flapping. It later produced forms including flappy and flabby, while the slang expression be in a flap dates from the early 20th century.

From Middle English flap, flappe (“a slap; blow; buffet; fly-flap; something flexible or loose; flap”), related to Saterland Frisian Flappert (“wing, flipper”), Middle Dutch flabbe (“a blow; slap on the face; fly-flap; flap”) (modern Dutch flap (“flap”)), Middle Low German flabbe, vlabbe, flebbe, from the verb (see below). Related also to English flab and flabby.

Topics

External links

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• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary