# flex

Pronunciation: say "FLEKS" /flɛks/

## Verb

1. To tighten the muscles in order to display their size or strength.
   - Simple: To make your muscles tight and hard so people can see how strong you are.
   - _Bodybuilders flex on stage while judges score each pose._
   - _She flexed playfully after winning the arm-wrestling contest._
2. To show off or flaunt one's superiority, especially regarding wealth, status, or accomplishments. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To show off, especially about money, success, or skill.
   - _He only posts vacation photos to flex on his followers._
   - _She wasn't flexing; she really did get the promotion._
3. To boast about or flaunt something, such as a possession, achievement, or skill. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To show off something you have or did, like money or new clothes.
   - _She flexes her designer bags in every photo she posts._
   - _He drove past the old neighborhood just to flex his new car._
5. To bend something, such as a flexible material or a limb.
   - Simple: To bend something, like a wire or a part of the body.
   - _The gymnast flexed her spine into a deep backbend._
   - _Engineers flex the beam repeatedly to test for fatigue._
6. To move a part of the body by contracting the muscles.
   - Simple: To move a part of your body by using your muscles.
   - _The doctor asked her to flex her wrist while he watched for pain._
   - _After hours at the keyboard, he flexed his shoulders to loosen them._
7. To bend one of one's joints repeatedly.
   - Simple: To bend one of your joints again and again.
   - _The pianist flexes her wrists between pieces to stay loose._
   - _Physical therapists have patients flex the injured knee gently several times a day._

## Noun

4. An instance of boasting or showing off, or something impressive enough to boast about. *(slang)*
   - Simple: An act of showing off, or something good enough to show off about.
   - _Posting your acceptance letter online is the ultimate flex._
   - _Casually mentioning her three patents was a quiet flex._
8. An act of bending or tightening, as of a muscle, joint, or pliable object.
   - Simple: One act of bending something or of tightening a muscle.
   - _Each flex of the diving board launched her higher._
   - _He answered the challenge with a slow flex of his biceps._
9. The capacity to bend; flexibility or pliancy.
   - Simple: The ability of something to bend without breaking.
   - _Skis with more flex handle soft snow better._
   - _The new polymer offers excellent flex at low temperatures._
10. A flexible insulated electrical cord, as on a lamp or small appliance.
   - Simple: A bendable covered wire that carries electricity to a lamp or other machine.
   - _The electrician replaced the frayed flex on the antique lamp._
   - _A long flex let her use the vacuum throughout the apartment._
11. Flexible insulated electrical wiring of any kind. *(Ireland, UK)*
   - Simple: Bendable covered wire of any kind that carries electricity.
   - _The electrician kept a reel of flex in the back of his van._
   - _Old rubber-coated flex becomes brittle and should be replaced._
12. Flexible ductwork, typically plastic stretched over a coiled metal wire that holds the tube's shape.
   - Simple: Bendable tubing for moving air, usually made of plastic over a wire coil.
   - _Installers used flex to route air from the furnace around the ceiling joists._
   - _Crushed flex behind the wall was choking the airflow to the upstairs vents._
13. A point of inflection on a curve, where the bending changes from one direction to the other.
   - Simple: A point on a curve where the curve changes which way it bends.
   - _The graph of a cubic function has a single flex where its concavity reverses._
   - _On a dose-response curve, the flex marks where growth in the effect begins to slow._

## Origin

From Latin flexus, the past participle of flecto meaning "to bend."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/flex (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).