How to Use flail in a Sentence

flail

verb

• The bird's wings flailed the water.
• They were flailing their arms to drive away the insects.
• He was wildly flailing about on the dance floor.
• The wounded animal lay on the ground, flailing helplessly.
• Even the best casts can flail when the vibe is more antic than comic.
  — Noel Murray, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2023
• Why are we are left to flail in the wind when others are included?
  — Doris Bittar, San Diego Union-Tribune, 18 Nov. 2020
• Cure can be seen sitting up at times and flailing his arms.
  — Ray Sanchez, CNN, 18 Oct. 2023
• The seat belt slipped off the dummy’s shoulder and the dummy’s head and torso flailed far outside the seat.
  — Daniela Porat, ProPublica, 6 Feb. 2020
• Drowning people won't flail their arms and holler for help.
  — Maya Miller, Star Tribune, 1 July 2021
• The grieving mother starts to shriek and flail in the pew; Cherizier towels off his head.
  — Jason Motlagh, Rolling Stone, 26 Nov. 2023
• As Joel flails in the fog, someone emerges and knocks him unconscious with the butt of their rifle.
  — Randall Colburn, EW.com, 13 Mar. 2023
• Hader ended the no-hitter by getting Straw to flail at a pitch in the dirt for his 31st save.
  — NBC News, 12 Sep. 2021
• There on the snow is a rabbit the size of my new kitten, flailing its poor little head back and forth.
  — Alison Fishburn, Longreads, 23 Oct. 2019
• Trying to help that guy because the one who choked Rudy, the one who flailed at Jusuf, who punched Jordan (Poole) last year.
  — Shayna Rubin, The Mercury News, 4 Jan. 2024
• Avoid swatting at the bees or flailing your arms, which can aggravate the bees.
  — Aliza Chasan, CBS News, 20 Sep. 2023
• Hader completed the no-hitter by getting Straw to flail at a pitch in the dirt for his 31st save.
  — Brian Dulik, chicagotribune.com, 12 Sep. 2021
• The action moves in and out of view, but one of the suspects’ legs can be seen flailing as two of the victims pummel him in the driveway.
  — Michael Ruiz, Fox News, 9 Nov. 2023
• Do yourself a favor and take an hour to flail and dance around your house to any of her music while shrieking.
  — Anne Nickoloff, cleveland, 21 Apr. 2020
• In trying to fly too high, Rio 2 does too much flailing and floundering to soar.
  — Miami Staff, Miami Herald, 30 Jan. 2024
• On the mound, Taylor Hearn was flailing through the first inning of his major league debut.
  — Dallas News, 8 Mar. 2020
• That leaves Keaton to hoot and flail and fall into swimming pools for the next 80 minutes, and possibly find true love.
  — Leah Greenblatt, EW.com, 12 Aug. 2022
• The Patriots quarterback forced the first challenger to the ground with a nasty jump cut that left the linebacker flailing.
  — Varun Shankar, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2023
• Hader ended the no-hitter by getting Straw to flail at a pitch in the dirt to make history.
  — BostonGlobe.com, 11 Sep. 2021
• The strut became more pronounced by the end of the sixth, after getting Josh Fuentes to flail at a slider for his eighth strikeout.
  — Los Angeles Times, 2 Apr. 2021
• For starters, there was a scene in which Dwight drove the bus and was supposed to suddenly swerve, causing everyone in the bus to flail to one side of the bus.
  — Hannah Yasharoff, USA TODAY, 17 May 2022
• Biggio is now on the injured list and Hiura was sent to the minors for a spell, while Suarez continues to flail away.
  — Steve Gardner, USA TODAY, 26 May 2021
• Hitters who hadn’t seen his changeup could only flail at it.
  — Bobby Nightengale, The Enquirer, 1 June 2022
• Practicing flight moves, the owlets would leap and flail, tumbling to lower branches, sometimes to the ground.
  — Val Cunningham Special To The Star Tribune, Star Tribune, 12 Jan. 2021
• Peltz’s 25 desperate attempts to join Disney’s board should be seen as the last flicker of the flame of the flailing financier.
  — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 20 Mar. 2024
• After deputies removed him from the car, fixed the handcuffs and sat him on a bench, the man began kicking and flailing against the deputies, officials said.
  — City News Service, San Diego Union-Tribune, 4 Mar. 2024

Last Updated: 5 Sep 2024