1 N‑COUNT [usu pl] Flippers are flat pieces of rubber that you can wear on your feet to help you swim more quickly, especially underwater.
2 N‑COUNT [usu pl] The flippers of an animal that lives in water, for example a seal or a penguin, are the two or four flat limbs which it uses for swimming.
flip|ping /fl I p I ŋ/ ADV [ADV adj] Some people use flipping to emphasize what they are saying, especially when they are annoyed. [BRIT , INFORMAL , SPOKEN , EMPHASIS ] □ This is such a flipping horrible picture. ● ADJ [ADJ n] Flipping is also an adjective. □ I even washed the flipping bed sheets yesterday.
fli p side also flipside
1 N‑SING The flip side of a record is the side that does not have the main song on it. □ 'What's on the flip side?'
2 N‑SING The flip side of a situation consists of the less obvious or less pleasant aspects of it. □ The trade deficit is the flip side of a rapidly expanding economy.
flirt /flɜː r t/ (flirts , flirting , flirted )
1 VERB If you flirt with someone, you behave as if you are sexually attracted to them, in a playful or not very serious way. □ [V + with ] Dad's flirting with all the ladies, or they're all flirting with him, as usual. □ [V ] He flirts outrageously. ● flir|ta|tion /flɜː r te I ʃ ə n/ (flirtations ) N‑VAR □ [+ with ] …a professor who has a flirtation with a student. □ She was aware of his attempts at flirtation.
2 N‑COUNT Someone who is a flirt likes to flirt a lot.
3 VERB If you flirt with the idea of something, you consider it but do not do anything about it. □ [V + with ] He has been flirting with the idea of a political career. ● flir|ta|tion N‑VAR □ …the party's brief flirtation with economic liberalism.
flir|ta|tious /flɜː r te I ʃəs/ ADJ Someone who is flirtatious behaves towards someone else as if they are sexually attracted to them, usually not in a very serious way. □ He was dashing, self-confident and flirtatious.
flir|ty /flɜː r ti/
1 ADJ If you describe someone as flirty , you mean that they behave towards people in a way which suggests they are sexually attracted to them, usually in a playful or not very serious way. □ She is amazingly flirty and sensual. □ She had an appealing flirty smile.
2 ADJ Flirty clothes are feminine and sexy.
flit /fl I t/ (flits , flitting , flitted )
1 VERB If you flit around or flit between one place and another, you go to lots of places without staying for very long in any of them. □ [V prep/adv] Laura flits about New York hailing taxis at every opportunity. □ [V prep/adv] He spends his time flitting between Florence, Rome and Bologna.
2 VERB If someone flits from one thing or situation to another, they move or turn their attention from one to the other very quickly. □ [V from n to n] She flits from one dance partner to another. □ [V prep] He's prone to flit between subjects with amazing ease.
3 VERB If something such as a bird or a bat flits about, it flies quickly from one place to another. □ [V prep/adv] …the parrot that flits from tree to tree.
4 VERB If an expression flits across your face or an idea flits through your mind, it is there for a short time and then goes again. □ [V + across ] He was unable to prevent a look of interest from flitting across his features. □ [V + through ] Images and memories of the evening flitted through her mind.
float ◆◇◇ /floʊ t/ (floats , floating , floated )
1 VERB If something or someone is floating in a liquid, they are in the liquid, on or just below the surface, and are being supported by it. You can also float something on a liquid. □ [V + in ] They noticed fifty and twenty dollar bills floating in the water. □ [V prep/adv] …barges floating quietly by the grassy river banks. □ [V n] They'll spend some time floating boats in the creek. [Also V n prep/adv]
2 VERB Something that floats lies on or just below the surface of a liquid when it is put in it and does not sink. □ [V ] Empty things float.
3 N‑COUNT A float is a light object that is used to help someone or something float.
4 N‑COUNT A float is a small object attached to a fishing line which floats on the water and moves when a fish has been caught.
5 VERB Something that floats in or through the air hangs in it or moves slowly and gently through it. □ [V prep/adv] The white cloud of smoke floated away.
6 VERB If you float a project, plan, or idea, you suggest it for others to think about. □ [V n] The French had floated the idea of placing the diplomatic work in the hands of the U.N.
7 VERB If a company director floats their company, they start to sell shares in it to the public. [BUSINESS ] □ [V n + on ] He floated his firm on the stock market. □ [V n] The advisers decided to float 60 per cent of the shares.
8 VERB If a government floats its country's currency or allows it to float , it allows the currency's value to change freely in relation to other currencies. [BUSINESS ] □ [V n] …the decision to float their currency. □ [V ] 59 per cent of people believed the pound should be allowed to float freely.
9 N‑COUNT A float is a truck on which displays and people in special costumes are carried in a festival procession.