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View synonyms for flipper

flipper

[ flip-er ]

noun

  1. a broad, flat limb, as of a seal or whale, especially adapted for swimming.
  2. Also called fin. one of a pair of paddlelike devices, usually of rubber, worn on the feet as an aid in scuba diving and swimming.
  3. Theater. a narrow flat hinged or attached at right angles to a larger flat.
  4. Slang. the hand.
  5. someone or something that flips.


flipper

/ ˈflɪpə /

noun

  1. the flat broad limb of seals, whales, penguins, and other aquatic animals, specialized for swimming
  2. Also calledfin often plural either of a pair of rubber paddle-like devices worn on the feet as an aid in swimming, esp underwater
  3. cricket a ball bowled with backspin imparted by the action of the bowler's wrist
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


flipper

/ flĭpər /

  1. A wide, flat limb adapted for swimming, found on aquatic animals such as whales, seals, and sea turtles. Flippers evolved from legs.


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Word History and Origins

Origin of flipper1

First recorded in 1815–25; flip 1 + -er 1
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Example Sentences

With the hook from its dangling metal cable attached to him, the duck moved into the open doorway, his legs and flippers hanging off the side.

Their giant flippers let them swim through the water like a penguin.

It’s also ignited fierce competition between flippers angling for “hits,” or the most valuable cards.

Zimmerman couldn’t fathom rebuilding when she knew the home would flood again, and selling it to a flipper felt wrong, because eventually it would just end up in the hands of another unsuspecting buyer enticed by a newly refurbished home.

From Time

Homes are destroyed, but buyers are undeterred—whether because of the influence of home flippers, a lack of reliable information about a home’s risk, or simple carelessness.

From Time

“The flipper is a living object, and you never play the same game on it,” says Colin.

Steel balls caromed around the table as the player massaged, tickled, pressed, and slammed the flipper buttons.

One of them realizes she is paid less as a part-time employee of PEN than she would be as a burger-flipper or a car-wash girl.

Looks like the only thing ready to come with him in this "real" moment is a fish named Flipper.

We throw some pennies to another group, and the one nearest the coin picks it up by making a scoop of his flipper-like palm.

I'm not sure that a seal's flipper might not be acceptable by to-morrow morning.

Now and again one would lazily lift a flipper to scratch itself or heave its great bulk into a more comfortable position.

And with that I givd the flipper a big squaze, and a big squaze it was, by the powers, that her leddyship giv'd to me back.

Of these, Lieutenant Flipper was dismissed June 30, 1882, for "conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman."

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