different between flail vs belt

English

Etymology

From Middle English flaile, flayle, from earlier fleil, fleyl, fle??l, flegl, from Old English fligel, *flegel (“flail”), from Proto-Germanic *flagilaz (“flail, whip”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Old French fil and Latin f?lum ("a fine thread or wire, a filament", i.e. a defiling instrument for the thrashing of a wire). Cognate with Scots flail (“a thresher's flail”), West Frisian fleil, flaaiel (“flail”), Dutch vlegel (“flail”), Low German vlegel (“flail”), German Flegel (“flail”). Possibly a native Germanic word from Proto-Germanic *flag-, *flah- (“to whip, beat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh?k- (“to beat, hit, strike; weep”); compare Lithuanian plàkti (“to whip, lash, flog”), Ancient Greek ????????? (pl?gnúnai, “strike, hit, encounter”), Latin plang? (“lament”, i.e. “beat one's breast”) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix); or a borrowing of Latin flagellum, diminutive of flagrum (“scourge, whip”), from Proto-Indo-European *b?lag-, *b?la?- (“to beat”); compare Old Norse blekkja (“to beat, mistreat”). Compare also Old French flael (“flail”), Walloon flayea (“flail”) (locally pronounced "flai"), Italian flagello (“scourge, whip, plague”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fle?l/
• Rhymes: -e?l

Noun

flail (plural flails)

1. A tool used for threshing, consisting of a long handle with a shorter stick attached with a short piece of chain, thong or similar material.
2. A weapon which has the (usually spherical) striking part attached to the handle with a flexible joint such as a chain.

Synonyms

• threshel, thrashel

Quotations

• 1631 — John Milton, L'Allegro

  When in one night, ere glimpse of morn,
  His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn
  That ten day-labourers could not end;

• 1816 — Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Kubla Khan

  Huge fragments vaulted like rebounding hail,
  Or chaffy grain beneath the thresher's flail

• 1842 — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Slave in the Dismal Swamp

  On him alone the curse of Cain
  Fell, like a flail on the garnered grain,
  And struck him to the earth!

• 1879 — Henry George, Progress and Poverty, ch V

  If the farmer must use the spade because he has not capital enough for a plough, the sickle instead of the reaping machine, the flail instead of the thresher...

Translations

Coordinate terms

• (weapon): nunchaku

Verb

flail (third-person singular simple present flails, present participle flailing, simple past and past participle flailed)

1. (transitive) To beat using a flail or similar implement.
2. (transitive) To wave or swing vigorously

   Synonym: thrash

   • 1937, H. P. Lovecraft, The Evil Clergyman

     He stopped in his tracks – then, flailing his arms wildly in the air, began to stagger backwards.

3. (transitive) To thresh.
4. (intransitive) To move like a flail.

Translations

See also

• flail on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Flail in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

English

Etymology

From Middle English belt, from Old English belt (“belt, girdle”), from Proto-Germanic *baltijaz (“girdle, belt”), from Latin balteus (“belt, sword-belt”), of Etruscan origin. Cognate with Scots belt (“belt”), Dutch belt, German Balz (“belt”), Danish bælte (“belt”), Swedish bälte (“belt, cincture, girdle, zone”) and Icelandic belti (“belt”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?lt/
• Rhymes: -?lt

Noun

belt (plural belts)

1. A band worn around the waist to hold clothing to one's body (usually pants), hold weapons (such as a gun or sword), or serve as a decorative piece of clothing.

2. A band used as a restraint for safety purposes, such as a seat belt.

3. A band that is used in a machine to help transfer motion or power.

4. Anything that resembles a belt, or that encircles or crosses like a belt; a strip or stripe.

5. A trophy in the shape of a belt, generally awarded for martial arts.

6. (astronomy) A collection of rocky-constituted bodies (such as asteroids) which orbit a star.
7. (astronomy) One of certain girdles or zones on the surface of the planets Jupiter and Saturn, supposed to be of the nature of clouds.
8. A powerful blow, often made with a fist or heavy object.

9. A quick drink of liquor.

10. (usually capitalized) A geographical region known for a particular product, feature or demographic (Corn Belt, Bible Belt, Black Belt, Green Belt).
11. (baseball) The part of the strike zone at the height of the batter's waist.

12. (weaponry) A device that holds and feeds cartridges into a belt-fed weapon
13. (music) Vocal tone produced by singing with chest voice above the break (or passaggio), in a range typically sung in head voice.

Synonyms

• (band worn around waist): girdle, waistband, sash, strap
• (band used as safety restraint): restraint, safety belt, seat belt
• (powerful blow): blow, punch, sock, wallop
• (quick drink of liquor): dram, nip

Derived terms

Descendants

• ? Afrikaans: belt
• ? Assamese: ????? (belto)
• ? Bengali: ????? (bel?)
• ? Dutch: belt
• ? Hindi: ????? (bel?)
• ? Irish: beilt
• ? Japanese: ??? (beruto)
• ? Oriya: ?????? (bel?)
• ? Urdu: ????? (bel?)
• ? Welsh: belt

Translations

Verb

belt (third-person singular simple present belts, present participle belting, simple past and past participle belted)

1. (transitive) To encircle.

2. (transitive) To fasten a belt on.

3. (transitive) To invest (a person) with a belt as part of a formal ceremony such as knighthood.
4. (transitive) To hit with a belt.

5. (transitive, normally belt out) To scream or sing in a loud manner.

6. (transitive) To drink quickly, often in gulps.

7. (transitive, slang) To hit someone or something.
8. (transitive, baseball) To hit a pitched ball a long distance, usually for a home run.

9. (intransitive) To move very fast.

Synonyms

• (to encircle): circle, girdle, surround
• (to fasten a belt): buckle, fasten, strap
• (to hit with a belt): strap, whip
• (to drink quickly): gulp, pound, slurp
• (to hit someone or something): bash, clobber, smack, wallop
• (to move quickly): book, speed, whiz, zoom

Derived terms

• belted l
• belt out
• belt up
• beltloop

Translations

Anagrams

• blet

Afrikaans

Etymology

Borrowed from English belt.

Noun

belt (plural belde)

1. A belt (garment).

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /b?lt/
• Hyphenation: belt
• Rhymes: -?lt

Etymology 1

A variant of bult.

Noun

belt m or f (plural belten, diminutive beltje n)

1. (archaic) A heap, hill
2. A dumpsite, notably for waste products.

Derived terms

• asbelt
• afvalbelt
• beltmolen
• gifbelt
• vuilnisbelt
• zandbelt

Etymology 2

Borrowed from English belt.

Noun

belt m (plural belten, diminutive beltje n)

1. (Suriname) (clothing) A belt.

Synonyms

• riem, broeksriem, gordel

Etymology 3

See the etymology of the main entry.

Verb

belt

1. second- and third-person singular present indicative of bellen
2. (archaic) plural imperative of bellen

Maltese

Etymology

From Arabic ?????? (balad).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?lt/

Noun

belt f (plural bliet)

1. A city, town.

Related terms

Old English

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *baltijaz. Cognate with Old High German balz, Old Norse belti.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /belt/, [be?t]

Noun

belt m (nominative plural beltas)

1. A belt.

Declension

Descendants

• Middle English: belt
  • English: belt (see there for further descendants)
  • Scots: belt