belly flop

noun

1
: a dive (as into water or in coasting prone on a sled) in which the front of the body strikes flat against another surface

called also belly flopper

2
: a complete and often painful or embarrassing failure : flop
… instead of doing a belly flop at the box office, Vampire soared …Jeff Gordinier
belly flop intransitive verb

Examples of belly flop in a Sentence

She did a belly flop into the pool.
Recent Examples on the Web The four-location pool crawl included games and activities, such as a watermelon race and a belly flop competition. Magda Liszewska, Orange County Register, 17 Oct. 2024 And then there are the long-term, indirect costs of an implementation belly flop. Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024 Raygun was seen belly flopping, hopping around and rolling around on the floor, leaving many with much to say. Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 6 Sep. 2024 After the game, Reid went over to a celebrating Jones and just belly flopped on top of him. Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024 See all Example Sentences for belly flop 

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'belly flop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

circa 1890, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of belly flop was circa 1890

Dictionary Entries Near belly flop

Cite this Entry

“Belly flop.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belly%20flop. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

belly flop

noun
: a dive (as into the water) in which the front of the body lands flat
belly flop verb

More from Merriam-Webster on belly flop

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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