flop

• 

  Flop-over hay rake
• WordNet 3.6
  • adv flop exactly "he fell flop on his face"
  • adv flop with a flopping sound "he tumbled flop into the mud"
  • v flop fall suddenly and abruptly
  • v flop fall loosely "He flopped into a chair"
  • v flop fail utterly; collapse "The project foundered"
  • n flop the act of throwing yourself down "he landed on the bed with a great flop"
  • n flop a complete failure "the play was a dismal flop"
  • n flop someone who is unsuccessful
  • n flop an arithmetic operation performed on floating-point numbers "this computer can perform a million flops per second"
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Additional illustrations & photos:

Flop-over hayrake, mid 19th century

flopped us in a heap

• Interesting fact: Five Jell-O flavors that flopped: celery, coffee, cola, apple, andchocolate.
• • n Flop Act of flopping.
  • Flop To clap or strike, as a bird its wings, a fish its tail, etc.; to flap.
  • Flop To fall, sink, or throw one's self, heavily, clumsily, and unexpectedly on the ground.
  • Flop To strike about with something broad and flat, as a fish with its tail, or a bird with its wings; to rise and fall; as, the brim of a hat flops .
  • Flop To turn suddenly, as something broad and flat.
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• Interesting fact: Cutthroat Island is the biggest movie flop in history, losing an estimated $81 million. It’s almost double the loss of the second-biggest money loser, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen ($48.1 million).
• • flop To clap or strike, as the wings; flap.
  • flop To cause to fall or hang down.
  • flop To flap.
  • flop To plump down suddenly; turn or come down with a flop: as, to flop on one's knees.
  • flop To collapse; yield or break down suddenly.
  • flop To go over suddenly to another side or party; make a sudden change of association or allegiance.
  • n flop The act of flopping or flapping.
  • n flop A fall like that of a soft outspread body upon the ground.
  • n flop Something that flops or is capable of flopping or striking, as a fluid, semi-liquid, or gelatinous substance, against the side of a vessel containing it.
  • n flop A sudden collapse or breakdown, as of resistance.
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• Interesting fact: The high jump method of jumping head first and landing on the back is called the Fosbury Flop.
• • v.t Flop flop to cause to hang down
  • v.i Flop to plump down suddenly: to break down
  • n Flop a fall plump on the ground
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• Evelyn Waugh

  

  “An artist must be a reactionary. He has to stand out against the tenor of the age and not go flopping along.”
• Joan Baez

  

  “Nonviolence is a flop. The only bigger flop is violence.”
• Joan Baez

  

  “The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of non-violence has been the organization of violence.”
• Isaac Bashevis Singer

  

  “The second half of the twentieth century is a complete flop.”

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