flapping
/ˈflæpɪŋ/ noun C2- An instance where one, or something, flaps.
- A phonological process found in many dialects of English, especially American English and Canadian English, by which intervocalic /t/ and /d/ surface as the alveolar flap [ɾ] before an unstressed syllable, so that words such as "metal" and "medal" are pronounced similarly or identically.
- The situation where a resource, a network destination, etc., is advertised as being available and then unavailable (or available by different routes) in rapid succession.
- The unlicensed racing of horses or greyhounds.
Plural flappings
From the library
This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great chattering and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys flew up to them.
Such of my readers as have made a pedestrian excursion to the south of France may perchance have noticed, about midway between the town of Beaucaire and the village of Bellegarde,—a little nearer to the former than to the latter,—a small roadside inn, from the front of which hung, creaking and flapping in the wind, a sheet of tin covered with a grotesque representation of the Pont du Gard.
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