flap
/flæp/noun, verb
flap is spelled F-L-A-P: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, flap means “Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of flap is flaps.
How many letters and syllables are in flap?
| Letters | 4: F-L-A-P |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 3.1 times per million words; the 15,146th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is flap?
Flap appears 3.1 times per million words in written English, the 15,146th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce flap?
- US /flæp/
- British /flap/
- /flɛp/
Flap has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-flap.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with flap?
11 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as flap from its last stressed vowel (/æp/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of flap
- flaps plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- flapping participle, present
- flapped participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does flap mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Anything broad and flexible that hangs loose, or that is attached by one side or end and is easily moved.
a flap of a garment
- 2
A hinged leaf.
the flaps of a table
- 3
A hinged surface on the trailing edge of the wings of an aeroplane, used to increase lift and drag.
- 4
A side fin of a ray.
- 5
The motion of anything broad and loose, or a sound or stroke made with it.
the flap of a sail
- 6
A controversy, scandal, stir, or upset.
The comment caused quite a flap in the newspapers.
- 7
A consonant sound made by a single muscle contraction, such as the sound /ɾ/ in the standard American English pronunciation of body.
- 8
A piece of tissue incompletely detached from the body, as an intermediate stage of plastic surgery.
verb
- 1
To move (something broad and loose) up and down.
The crow slowly flapped its wings.
- 2
To move loosely back and forth.
The flag flapped in the breeze.
- 3
For a goalkeeper to weakly attempt to play a flighted ball with the hands, failing to control it.
- 4
To pronounce (something) as a flap consonant.
- 5
To be pronounced with a flap consonant.
- 6
To be advertised as being available and then unavailable (or available by different routes) in rapid succession.
- 7
To talk, especially in a manner seen as excessive, nagging or annoying.
She stay flappin' at me.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Flap in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | pan , rabat , battement , volet de bord de fuite , battre |
| German | Krempe, Hutkrempe, Patte , Klappe , Flügelschlag , Aufregung |
| Portuguese | aba , flape , bater , vibrante simples , tremular |
| Spanish | solapa, solape, solapo , flap , percusiva, vibrante simple |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does flap come from?
From Middle English flap, flappe (“a slap; blow; buffet; fly-flap; something flexible or loose; flap”), related to Saterland Frisian Flappert (“wing, flipper”), Middle Dutch flabbe (“a blow; slap on the face; fly-flap; flap”) (modern Dutch flap (“flap”)), Middle Low German flabbe, vlabbe, flebbe, from the verb (see below). Related also to English flab and flabby.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).