From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishflailflail1 /fleɪl/ verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]MOVE/CHANGE POSITION to wave your arms or legs in an uncontrolled way He flailed wildly as she tried to hold him down.flail around/about James flailed about in the shallow water.2 [transitive]HIT to beat someone or something violently, usually with a stick3 [intransitive, transitive]TA to beat grain with a flail→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
flail• Again they started their wild synchronous flailing.• I could not stop flailing away at the ball.• Lucien made a small, indignant sound, his arms flailing before he recovered his poise.• He flailed for balance with his sabre arm, then screamed because he saw the heavy sword coming at his throat.• Flailing his arms, Sam nearly knocked the vase to the floor.• Sonny went staggering back, arms flailing, spitting blood and fragments of teeth.• Her body went rigid, her arms slapping and flailing the bed.• Suddenly, the police charged down Catherine, flailing with their sticks.flail around/about• He burst into their midst, flailing about him with the flat of his sword as if he would hack them all apart.• She is flailing about in a cultural whirlpool of conflicting expectations, standards and demands.• He flailed around on the snow.• It felt as though some one was pulling my lifeline away from me and I was flailing around, trying to grab hold of it.flailflail2 noun [countable] TAa tool consisting of a stick that swings from a long handle, used in the past to separate grain from wheat by beating itExamples from the Corpus
flail• Or use a flexible tree branch or heavy jacket as a flail to beat the person back.• What hedges still remain are no longer laid but occasionally slashed by a mobile mechanical flail.• It would also catch grain bounding off the floor with the force of flail threshing.• Does a father react angrily when his tired, overwhelmed twelve-month-old flails out and hits him on the nose?• This Teddy, so the tale went, had had one paw removed and a small flail with leather tails sewn on.• Each sported two flails of sinuous steel tentacles and a crab-like claw.Origin flail2 (1000-1100) Latin flagellum “whip, flail” 