flip-flopn.adv.
/ˈflɪpflɒp/ 1. † a. The ‘flap’ of the ear. Obsolete.Apparently an isolated use.
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the world > life > the body > external parts of body > head > face > ear > [noun] > flap or lobe
lapc1000
ear-lapOE
list1530
lippet1598
lug1602
lappet1609
handle1615
libbet1627
auricle1650
flip-flop1661
pinna1682
helix1684
lobe1719
earlobea1785
ear flap1810
leaf1819
shell1831
pavilion1842
ear bud1953
1661 K. W. Confused Characters 51 We will stop the mishapen hols widdowed of their flipflops..least there..still he retaine also too much of the faculty of enterance.
b. The sound of a regular footfall.Apparently an isolated use.
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the world > physical sensation > hearing and noise > degree, kind, or quality of sound > repeated sound or succession of sounds > [noun] > sound of footsteps
stepa1616
tramping1660
stump1690
tit-tat1699
treading1709–10
pad1879
plod-plodding1881
heels1883
flip-flop1889
clump1891
pid-pad1900
plod1902
clomp1912
1889 J. K. Jerome Three Men in Boat 168 When he heard the regulation flip-flop approaching.
2. A somersault. Cf. flip-flap n. 3a. U.S.
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the world > movement > motion in a certain direction > upward movement > leaping, springing, or jumping > [noun] > somersault
supersault1503
somersault1530
tumbling cast1530
sobersaulta1533
somerset1591
turn-over1660
pitch-pole1842
spin1842
salto mortale1896
flip-flop1902
1902 G. H. Lorimer Lett. Merchant xvii. 245 And when a fellow's turning flip-flops up among the clouds, he's naturally going to have the farmers gaping at him.
1929 Liberty 30 Nov. 43/1 Turning hand-springs and flip-flops all over the sawdust covered floor.
1946 Gunnison (Colorado) News-Champion 2 May 1/2 The convertible Ford coupe..missed a narrow bridge..turned a flip-flop in the air and came to a stop right side up in waist-deep waters.
1969 New Yorker 12 Apr. 100/2 Every time Lind or any other astronaut opens his mouth, the entire space industry turns flip-flops.
3. As adverb.
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1904 H. G. Wells Food of Gods ii. i. 145 She..passed, flip-flop, within three yards of them.
4. Electronics. Either of two types of electronic switching circuit: (a) one that passes from a stable to an unstable state and back again in response to a triggering pulse; (b) one that has two stable states and makes a single transition from one to the other in response to a triggering pulse.
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the world > matter > physics > electromagnetic radiation > electronics > electronic phenomena > electronic circuit > [noun] > trigger circuit > switching circuit
flip-flop1935
toggle circuit1953
latch1959
1935 Wireless Engineer 12 606/2 The earliest accounts of the device, which is sometimes called the ‘flip-flop’, are by Eccles and Jordan.
1946 Math. Tables & Other Aids Computation 2 100 The basic electronic memory device of the ENIAC is the flip-flop or trigger.
1964 F. L. Westwater Electronic Computers ii. 27 If a pulse is supplied to the lowest flip-flop in the counter the number 1 will be registered.
1966 New Scientist 3 Nov. 242/3 The cell contains its own version of an electronic ‘flip-flop’ circuit, a two-tube circuit which is stable when either tube is conducting, but not when both are.
1971 New Scientist 11 Mar. 551/3 Flip-flops are widely used in computers.
5. A plastic or rubber sandal consisting of a flat sole and straps. Also attributive.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > shoe or boot > shoe > [noun] > types of > with straps or thongs > sandal > types of
alpargata1613
opanka1778
pampootie1846
kaparrang1867
huarache1887
chappal1893
bakya1916
platform sandal1940
jandal1950
flip-flop1958
thonged sandal1958
thong sandal1965
toe-thong sandal1966
thong1967
slip-slop1971
1958 P. James MS Descr. in H. M. Customs & Excise Declar. Personal Baggage (official form) (O.E.D. Archive) Maps, 1 pair of ‘flip-flops’, 1 shirt (white), 1 shirt (coloured) [etc.].
1960 D. Strong MS Diary 2 July (O.E.D. Archive) Bought flip flops. Walked to pool.
1970 Observer 15 Mar. 6/3 Milligan has a beard and wears flip-flops with jeans.
1971 M. Polland Package to Spain xii. 152 ‘She had flip-flops with white daisies on the front of them.’ ‘Flip-flops?’.. ‘Sandals. Beach sandals all made of plastic.’
1971 W. J. Burley Guilt Edged i. 18 She wore..blue jeans and flip-flop sandals.
Derivatives
ˈflip-flop v. (intransitive) to go, proceed, act, etc., with a flapping sound; also transitive, to turn (something) over.
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the world > space > relative position > inversion > invert [verb (transitive)]
to-wendc893
whelvec1000
to turn down?c1335
to turn up?c1335
whelmc1340
overturna1382
to turn overa1400
wholve14..
inverse?a1425
reverse?a1425
overwhelvec1450
overvolvea1522
transverse1557
evert1566
topsy-turn1573
topsy-turve1603
invert1610
upturn1610
whave1611
topsy-turvy1626
whemmel1684
cant1850
upend1868
flip-flop1924
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > move to and fro or up and down [verb (intransitive)] > flap or beat up and down
fanc1400
swapa1529
wavea1530
flap1692
winnow1852
flail1874
flip-flop1924
1924 W. Deeping Three Rooms xxxv. 313 He [sc. a person distempering a wall] grew quite jaunty and confident, flip-flopping with considerable dexterity.
1940 F. D. Davison in B. James Austral. Short Stories (1963) 59 Wallabies flip-flopped out of your way as you rode.
1968 J. D. Watson Double Helix xxvi. 197 Both pairs could be flipflopped over and still have their glycosidic bonds facing in the same direction.
ˈflip-flopping n.
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the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > [noun] > flapping or beating up and down
flapping1398
winnowing1844
flip-flopping1897
1897 Outing 30 176/1 I could hear a vigorous flip-flopping going on beyond the weeds, and I knew the captive was a trout.
Draft additions March 2007
Originally U.S. Politics. A change of mind or position on something; a reversal.
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the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > reversal of or forsaking one's will or purpose > [noun] > change of sides or opinion
going-over1529
revoltc1576
flip-flop1890
1890 Chicago Tribune 13 July 6/5 Mr. Ericksen's friends in the twenty-third executed a flip-flop, and..went over to Michael Francis in a body.
1917 Fort Wayne (Indiana) Daily News 9 June 14/4 Cantrill executed an alert flip-flop today on the suffrage issue.
1940 D. L. Cohn Good Old Days Introd. p. xviii Sears does a flip-flop and goes in for time-payment merchandising.
1983 D. Trombulak in Overtime: Worker Writer Anthology (1990) 43 Denise has gone back to work... Randy stays home... Denise admits that the flip-flop in their lifestyle has helped her see things in a different light.
2006 Daily Tel. (Nexis) 20 July 23 [He] was implacably opposed to a referendum on the EU Constitution until it suited his political purposes to perform a flip-flop.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1897; most recently modified version published online September 2020).
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n.adv.1661