flail

A national brand-name institution with a $2.5 billion endowment and a storied 150-year tradition is suddenly beginning to flail.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026

Greg, seeing his daughter flail, decides to do whatever he can to help.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 9, 2026

Gobert was initially assessed a common foul, but officials ruled it a flagrant after a review, saying he made an "unnecessary flail" with his arm.

From Barron's ● Feb. 21, 2026

As a beginner, I expected the arms and hands to flail around, knocking the blocks and cups around the room.

From BBC ● Feb. 12, 2026

I flail around, trying to use vines and trunks to right myself.

From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins

Lawrence’s Grace needs help and the more she flails, the worse she makes things.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 5, 2025

Audiences will wonder that for almost the entirety of “Folie à Deux,” which mostly flails in fits and starts until a tour-de-force sequence in which Arthur/Joker serves as his own lawyer.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024

At times it’s hard to recognize the ascending superstar as he flails at pitches out of the strike zone and, despite his seemingly unflappable persona, shows unmistakable signs of pressing.

From Seattle Times ● May 4, 2023

Wendell Pierce, as Willy, is wrenching as he flails and fails to avoid his fate instead of slumping into it from the start.

From New York Times ● Oct. 9, 2022

The laddoo gurgles and flails his pudgy hands forward toward me, smacking the keyboard.

From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali

The new storefronts have especially been a boon for malls, which flailed after the rise of online shopping.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 20, 2026

Stagflation set in, and the Nixon, Ford and Carter administrations all flailed helplessly at the beast.

From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026

They attacked the game, while Rangers flailed wildly.

From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2025

There were costume changes and choreographed dance numbers, even an intro where a moving tentacle flailed halfway out of her mouth.

From Salon ● Apr. 16, 2025

He flailed his hands and even stamped once with his long, narrow, elegantly shoed foot on the plush carpet.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

“Bobby Robotowitz” follows Dina, a flailing novelist, mother and wife, as she begins chatting with Bobby, whom she finds an unlikely confidant.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

"There are farmers really flailing away" and drastically concerned about fuel costs, Joe Logan, interim president of the Ohio Farmers Union, told AFP.

From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026

A humanoid’s frantic attempts to stay upright—arms flailing, legs skittering—bears an uncanny resemblance to the choreographed collapses of Charlie Chaplin or Buster Keaton.

From Slate ● Sep. 27, 2026

Artificial limbs programmed for specific movements end up flailing in surprisingly chaotic ways.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026

Turn around, flailing my arms, find the keg bobbing next to me.

From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick