flipper

English

English Wikipedia has an article on:

flipper

Wikipedia

Etymology

From flip +‎ -er. Compare Saterland Frisian Flappert (“flipper, wing”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈflɪpə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈflɪpɚ/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪpə(ɹ)

Noun

flipper (plural flippers)

2. In marine mammals such as whales (or other aquatic animals such as sea turtles), a wide flat, limb adapted for swimming.
3. A wide, flat, paddle-like rubber covering for the foot, used in swimming.

   Synonym: swim fin

4. A flat lever in a pinball machine, triggered by the player to strike the ball and keep it in play.
5. (theater) A small flat used to support a larger one.
   • 1998, Martin Harrison, The Language of Theatre, page 104:

     The flipper is designed to give support by standing at a 90-degree angle to the flat. It probably gets its name from its appearance: cut out like a piece of profile scenery, it resembles the flipper of a marine animal, […]

   • 2013, Jonathan Law, The Methuen Drama Dictionary of the Theatre:

     When standing alone, a flat may have a small extension, a FLIPPER, for added strength.

6. (cricket) A type of ball bowled by a leg spin bowler, which spins backwards and skids off the pitch with a low bounce.
7. (informal, US) Television remote control, clicker.
8. (dated, slang) The hand.
   • 1888, Hélène E A. Gingold, Denyse, page 222:

     Give me your flipper, old man, and tell me if I can be of any service to you. I'll do what you want at all hazards.

9. (dentistry) A kind of false tooth, usually temporary.
   • 2005, Washington Appellate Reports: Volume 128:

     Dr. Woo attempts to distinguish Blakeslee by pointing out that “one can fondle a breast without having anything to do with dentistry, but one cannot take molds, fabricate and insert flippers into another person's mouth without practicing dentistry."

10. A kitchen spatula.
    • 2009, Amy J. Yowell, The Silent Cry, page 161:

      Remember the mornings when you help me fix eggs and pancakes for breakfast. You always had to use the “flipper” to turn the pancakes and eggs.

11. Someone who flips, in the sense of buying a house or other asset and selling it quickly for profit.
12. Someone who flips in any other sense, for example throwing a coin.

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• fin

Verb

flipper (third-person singular simple present flippers, present participle flippering, simple past and past participle flippered)

1. To lift one or both flippers out of the water and slap the surface of the water.

Further reading

• “flipper”, in Collins English Dictionary.
• “flipper”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• “flipper”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “flipper”, in Cambridge English Dictionary, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire: Cambridge University Press, 1999–present.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from English flipper.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈflɪ.pər/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: flip‧per
• Rhymes: -ɪpər

Noun

flipper m (plural flippers, diminutive flippertje n)

1. A flipper, a fin (swimming gear).

   Synonym: zwemvlies

2. A flipper (limb-like appendage of an aquatic animal).

   Synonym: vin

3. A flipper, a flipper bumper (lever in a pinball machine for hitting the ball; also the input device for operating this lever).
4. (rare) A pinball machine.

   Synonym: flipperkast

Derived terms

• flipperkast

French

Etymology 1

From English flipper, the part of a pinball machine used to strike the ball up higher on the game surface.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fli.pœʁ/

Noun

flipper m (plural flippers)

1. pinball
2. pinball machine

   Synonym: (dated) billard électrique

Further reading

• flipper on the French Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^fr

Etymology 2

From English flip (one's lid).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fli.pe/

Verb

flipper

1. (colloquial, slang) to freak out

Conjugation

Further reading

• “flipper”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé , 2012.
• “flipper” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.

Italian

Noun

flipper m (invariable)

1. pinball (game and machine)

Related terms

• flippare

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French flipper, from English flipper.

Noun

flipper n (plural flippere)

1. pinball

Declension

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from English flip. Affix of flip +‎ -er, with a germinated p to indicate a short preceding vowel. First attested in 1963.

Noun

flipper n

1. Clipping of flipperspel (“pinball”).
   • 2022 December 4, Firas Razak, Jane Andersson, “16-årige Viggo yngste flippermästaren genom tiderna [16-year-old Viggo the youngest pinball champion of all time]”, in SVT Nyheter:

     Det är många som spelat flipper för att det är roligt, kanske tävlat mot kompisarna eller försökt slå personbästa. Men flipper är också en seriös tävlingssport med hundratusentals aktiva runt om i världen.

     Many people have played pinball because it's fun, perhaps competing against their friends or trying to beat their personal best. But pinball is also a serious competitive sport with hundreds of thousands of active players around the world.

References