# flip

Pronunciation: say "FLIP" /flɪp/

## Verb

1. To throw or toss something so that it turns over.
   - Simple: To throw something so that it turns over onto its other side.
   - _Good cooks can flip an omelet in the pan without touching a spatula._
   - _The tornado flipped trucks on the highway and tore the roofs off barns._
2. To set something spinning through the air with a quick snap of the thumb against the index finger, as when tossing a coin.
   - Simple: To make something small, like a coin, spin in the air with a quick push of your thumb.
   - _The referee will flip a coin before kickoff to decide which team gets the ball first._
   - _Bored at the bus stop, he kept flipping a quarter and catching it._
4. To go wild or out of control, or to become extremely angry. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To suddenly get extremely angry or lose control.
   - _My boss would flip if she found out we missed the deadline._
   - _After three hours stuck in traffic, the driver finally flipped and started yelling at everyone._
6. To buy an asset, often a house or a work of art, and resell it quickly for a short-term profit. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To buy something like a house or a painting and sell it again fast to make money.
   - _Investors who flip houses in a hot market can make money fast, but a downturn can leave them stuck._
   - _The collector was criticized for flipping the painting at auction just weeks after buying it._
8. To go wild with delight, or to become extremely thrilled or enthusiastic. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To become very excited and happy about something.
   - _Readers who love a good mystery will flip for her new novel._
   - _The crowd flipped when the band walked back out for a third encore._
9. To switch from one task or activity to another. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To change from doing one thing to doing another.
   - _Most of us flip between email, chat, and actual work dozens of times a day._
   - _Halfway through writing the report, she flipped to answering customer emails._
10. To agree to testify against one's partners in a crime in return for concessions from prosecutors. *(US)*
   - Simple: To agree to be a witness against your partners in a crime in return for a better deal.
   - _Prosecutors expect at least one of the defendants to flip before the trial begins._
   - _Facing decades in prison, the accountant flipped on the company's owners._
11. To persuade someone to testify against their partners in a crime in return for concessions. *(US)*
   - Simple: To get someone to be a witness against their partners in a crime by offering them a better deal.
   - _Federal agents worked for months to flip the cartel's accountant._
   - _By flipping two mid-level managers, prosecutors built a case against the CEO._
12. To win a state or county that another party won in the previous election. *(US)*
   - Simple: To win a state or county in an election when the other party won it the time before.
   - _Strategists think the challenger can flip the state if turnout among young voters stays high._
   - _Republicans flipped several suburban counties that had voted for the other party four years earlier._
14. To hand something over to someone, or to pass it along to another person. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: To give something to someone or send it on to another person.
   - _Can you flip me the client's details before the call?_
   - _He flipped the invoice to accounting as soon as it arrived._
15. To invert a bit, or binary digit, so that a 0 becomes 1 or a 1 becomes 0.
   - Simple: To change one bit of computer data from 0 to 1, or from 1 to 0.
   - _To toggle the setting, the firmware only needs to flip a single bit in the control register._
   - _The checksum failed because a faulty cable had flipped several bits during the transfer._
21. To refinance a loan, running up additional fees in the process. *(slang)*
   - Simple: To replace a loan with a new loan, which adds more fees.
   - _State regulators fined the company for flipping borrowers' mortgages to collect closing costs again and again._
   - _Brokers who flip a loan every few months can drain a homeowner's equity through fees alone._
23. To flap, swinging or waving loosely back and forth, as cloth does in a breeze.
   - Simple: To move quickly back and forth, like a flag in the wind.
   - _The awnings flip noisily whenever a gust comes off the lake._
   - _A torn sail flipped against the mast as the boat drifted toward shore._

## Noun

3. A maneuver that turns something end over end, as when a coin is tossed or a diver somersaults in the air.
   - Simple: A move where something turns over completely in the air, like a coin or a diver.
   - _The skateboarder landed a clean flip off the top of the ramp._
   - _The diver added two extra flips to her final dive._
5. A complete change of direction, of a decision, or of a movement.
   - Simple: A total change in direction or in what someone has decided.
   - _The senator's flip on the trade bill cost him the support of several unions._
   - _Analysts were caught off guard by the market's flip from steady gains to steep losses._
7. A deal in which an asset, usually a house, is bought, improved, and sold again quickly for a profit. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: The buying of a house or other thing to fix up and sell quickly for money.
   - _The couple's first flip, a run-down bungalow, sold for forty thousand dollars more than they paid._
   - _Rising lumber prices have made quick flips much harder for small investors._
18. A hairstyle, popular among boys in the 1960s–70s and again in the 2000s–10s, in which the hair reaches halfway down the ears and then sticks out.
   - Simple: A boys' haircut where the hair covers half the ears and then sticks out at the ends.
   - _In his 2008 school photo he's wearing a shaggy flip that covers half his ears._
   - _Half the boys in the band had grown their hair out into a flip._
19. The tendency of a gun's barrel to move with a sudden jerk at the moment of firing.
   - Simple: The way the barrel of a gun jerks suddenly when the gun is fired.
   - _A heavier barrel reduces flip and lets the shooter stay on target between shots._
   - _The compensator vents gas upward to tame muzzle flip during rapid fire._
20. A slingshot: a Y-shaped frame with a stretchy band, used for shooting small stones. *(slang, US)*
   - Simple: A Y-shaped stick with a stretchy band that you pull back to shoot small stones.
   - _Grandpa whittled me a flip out of a forked hickory branch and an old inner tube._
   - _She fitted a pebble into her flip and aimed at the tin can on the fence post._
22. A mixed drink of beer, spirits and the like, stirred and heated with a hot iron known as a flip dog.
   - Simple: A drink of beer mixed with strong alcohol, made hot by stirring it with a hot piece of iron.
   - _The tavern kept an iron in the coals so it could stir up hot flip whenever a customer asked._
   - _The party ran on punch, strong beer and flip until well past midnight._

## Adjective

13. Disrespectful in an offhand, joking way that does not take a person or matter seriously. *(colloquial)*
   - Simple: Rude in a joking way, not showing respect.
   - _The senator's flip remark about the flood victims drew immediate criticism._
   - _When the officer asked for his license, the driver got flip and was told to step out of the car._
17. Playful and lighthearted in manner, or lacking seriousness of purpose. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: Joking and playful, or not being serious about something.
   - _Sorry to be flip, but could we just get a takeaway and skip the cooking tonight?_
   - _His flip tone at the start of the meeting suggested he hadn't read the report._

## Interjection

16. Used as a mild stand-in for a swear word to express annoyance, especially at one's own mistake. *(colloquial, UK)*
   - Simple: A mild word said instead of a swear word when you are annoyed, especially at your own mistake.
   - _Oh, flip. I've sent the email to the wrong person._
   - _What the flip is that racket next door at this hour?_

## Noun

24. The very smallest amount or degree of anything. *(dated)*
   - Simple: A very tiny amount of something.
   - _Her father didn't care a flip for fashion and wore the same coat for twenty years._
   - _I wouldn't give a flip for his promises after the way he treated us._
25. A light blow, such as a fillip made by snapping a finger off the thumb. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A quick, light hit, like a flick of the finger.
   - _She answered his teasing with a sharp flip on the nose._
   - _The teacher gave the dozing boy a flip behind the ear to wake him._

## Other meanings

- (adjective) Sarcastic in tone or manner.

## Origin

**Meanings 1–12, 14–15, 18–21, 23–25** — An alteration of earlier fillip, from Middle English filippen (“to make a signal or sound with thumb and right forefinger, snap the fingers”), an attenuated variation of flappen (“to flap, clap, slap, strike”). It is cognate with Dutch flappen and German flappen (“to flap”).
**Meaning 16** — Apparently a euphemism for fuck.
**Meanings 13, 17** — A clipping of flippant.

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