See Also: flapper(medicine)
flapper(dictionary)
flapper(dictionary)

flapper (iou)



flapper noun. L16.
[from FLAP verb + -ER1.]
Something flat to strike with, esp. to make a noise; a fly-swatter. L16.
A person who flaps or strikes another, esp. to get his or her attention. Hence, a reminder. Now rare or obsolete. E18.
A newly fledged wild duck or partridge. Chiefly dial. M18.
Something hanging by one side or working on a hinge; esp. the striking part of a flail, a swingle. L18.
b. A fin or flipper; a crustacean's tail; (slang) the hand. Now rare. M19.
c. An irregular race meeting (cf. FLAPPING 2). slang. E20.
[Perh. from FLAP noun 7, or a fig. use of sense 3.]
a. A young prostitute; an immoral young girl. slang. L19-E20.
b. Orig., a young girl nearing maturity. Later, a young woman (esp. an unconventional or flighty one). colloq. L19.
c. spec. A (fashionable) young woman of the nineteen-twenties and -thirties. colloq. E20.
Comb.: flapper vote (derog., now Hist.) the parliamentary vote granted to women of 21 and over in 1928.
flapperdom,
flapperhood nouns the condition of being a flapper (sense 5b, c) E20.
flapperish adjective characteristic of or like a flapper E20.