Etymologically
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flop

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It arose as a variant of flap,[2][3][4][5][6][7] with the change of vowel showing a duller or heavier sound, according to the OED.[2][4][8] Klein calls it a variant of flap formed by vowel alternation,[9] and Weekley imitative of a heavier movement.[10] Flap itself is probably imitative.[8][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To swing or sway about heavily and loosely: 1602, in Marston's Antonio and Mellida.[2][4] Etymonline dates it to about 1600, in the sense "to flap".[8]

Semantic evolution

From 1692 the verb meant to move clumsily or heavily, with a bump or thud, and the sense of falling or dropping down heavily is recorded from 1836, in a novel by Marryat.[2][4][8] Johnson (1755) defined to flop as to clap the wings with noise.[12] The noun, the act or sound of flopping, appears in 1823, in Moor's Suffolk Words.[2][8] In American use it came to mean a sudden change of side or policy (noun 1880, verb 1884).[2][13] The figurative noun "a failure" is recorded from 1893 and the verb "to collapse, fail" from 1919, in Wodehouse;[2][8][4] Etymonline explains it from the notion of a sudden collapse.[8] Green's Dictionary of Slang dates flop for a theatrical failure from 1920, and flop for a sleep from 1916;[13] from 1910 it also meant a bed or a place to sleep, like a flophouse.[2] In poker the flop is the dealing of the first three community cards (1973).[2] In 19th-century American college slang flop meant a trick by which someone was deceived, or to cheat in an examination.[2][13] In dialect it also meant a mass of thin mud.[2][14]

Timeline

  • 1602 – to swing or sway heavily and loosely.[2][4]
  • 1692 – to move clumsily or heavily, with a thud.[2]
  • 1823 – noun, the action or sound of flopping.[2][8]
  • 1836 – to fall or drop down heavily.[4][8]
  • 1851 – American college slang.[2]
  • 1880 – a sudden change of policy or party (U.S.).[2][13]
  • 1893 – a failure, collapse.[2][8][4]
  • 1907 – to sleep (slang, originally U.S.).[2]
  • 1919 – to collapse, fail.[2][8]
  • 1973 – in poker, the first three community cards.[2]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To fall, drop or sit down heavily and clumsily: She flopped onto the sofa after work.[15][7][2]
  2. To hang, swing or flap loosely: The dog's ears flopped as it ran.[15][7][2]
  3. (informal) To fail completely: The sequel flopped at the box office.[15][7][2]
  4. (slang) To go to sleep, or to spend the night somewhere.[15][2]
  5. (U.S.) To change suddenly to the opposite side or opinion.[2][7]

Noun

  1. The act or dull sound of flopping.[15][7][2]
  2. (informal) A complete failure, especially a play or film: The musical was a flop.[15][7][2]
  3. A sudden reversal of policy or opinion.[7][2]
  4. In poker, the first three community cards dealt face up.[2]

Adverb

  1. With a flop: The parcel fell flop on the doorstep.[7][6][2]

Word family

  • flopper
  • flophouse
  • flopover
  • floppy
  • flop-eared
  • flopperoo
  • kerflop

Usage notes

FLOP or flops, in computing a floating-point operation per second, is a separate word, a shortening of megaflop and similar terms, recorded from 1976.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  5. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  9. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  10. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
  11. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  13. ^ a b c d Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  14. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  15. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins