Hypertext Webster Gateway: "flail"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Flail \Flail\, n. [L. flagellum whip, scourge, in LL., a
threshing flail: cf. OF. flael, flaiel, F. fl['e]au. See
{Flagellum}.]
1. An instrument for threshing or beating grain from the ear
by hand, consisting of a wooden staff or handle, at the
end of which a stouter and shorter pole or club, called a
swipe, is so hung as to swing freely.
His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn. --Milton.
2. An ancient military weapon, like the common flail, often
having the striking part armed with rows of spikes, or
loaded. --Fairholt.
No citizen thought himself safe unless he carried
under his coat a small flail, loaded with lead, to
brain the Popish assassins. --Macaulay.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
flail
n : an implement consisting of handle with a free swinging stick
at the end; used in manual threshing
v 1: give a thrashing to; beat hard [syn: {thrash}, {thresh}, {lam}]
2: move like a flail; thresh about; "Her arms were flailing"
[syn: {thresh}]
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