<p><strong>noun</strong></p><ul><li>an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle with a freely swinging stick or bar attached to one end of it.</li><li>a similar instrument used as a weapon of war.</li></ul><p><strong>verb</strong></p><ul><li>(used without object) to move about randomly and wildly: Running down to the lake I hit a patch of mud and found myself flailing all over the path, arms and legs flying.</li><li>to make desperate or unproductive attempts to respond to a challenging problem, awkward situation, etc. (usually followed by around or about): He makes things worse by flailing about with administrative solutions to educational problems he doesn't understand.</li><li>to thresh (grain) with a flail: Together they managed to clear land, seed wheat, flail the grain by hand, and grind it into flour.</li><li>to beat, strike, attack, etc., repeatedly with or as if with a flail: I flailed the water with a variety of lures for hours, and caught three bass. The infantry closed in while artillery support flailed the enemy positions.</li><li>to move (a limb, one’s body, etc.) randomly and wildly (often followed by around or about): Gasping and choking, he flailed a hand in my general direction.</li><li>to swing (something) about as if using a flail: She violently flailed the flare around, trying to catch the attention of the figure on the hill.</li></ul><p><strong>adjective</strong></p><ul><li>(of a limb or joint of the body) having excessive or abnormal mobility due to loss of muscle control as the result of injury or disease: The orthopedist studied hundreds of cases of post-polio flail shoulder.</li></ul>