flopping
flopping — verb
1. dropping, falling, or moving the body in a heavy, loose way without trying to co
dropping, falling, or moving the body in a heavy, loose way without trying to control where you land — often because you are tired or relaxing.
Arjun came home from football practice and started flopping onto the sofa.
flopping + onto + furniture target
The puppies were flopping around in the long grass while Diego watched.
flopping around + animate subject
Noor's wet hair kept flopping into her eyes during the picnic.
After the long hike, Minho was flopping down on every park bench he passed.
Cooked noodles were flopping over the edge of the bowl onto the kitchen counter.
- collapsing
more dramatic, suggests sudden loss of strength
- slumping
stresses the slow, heavy sinking shape
- sprawling
emphasises arms and legs spreading out wide
- perching
implies a careful, balanced landing on the edge of something
文法句型
be flopping + on/onto/into/down
用法筆記
Subject is usually animate (a tired person, a small animal) or something loose and floppy (wet hair, cooked food, a fish out of water). Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about physical motion, never about failure.
常見錯誤
2. of a film, book, song, product, or business venture: failing to attract an audie
of a film, book, song, product, or business venture: failing to attract an audience or buyers, so that it loses money or is judged a total failure.
The new superhero sequel is flopping at the Taiwan box office this weekend.
flopping at + sales venue
Amihan worried her bakery was flopping after three quiet months in a row.
flopping + small-business subject
The lead singer admitted their second album was flopping with younger listeners.
Élise's restaurant was flopping until she changed the menu and lowered prices.
- thriving
growing and doing well over a period of time
文法句型
[creative work / business] + is flopping
用法筆記
Subject is almost always a creative work, product, or commercial venture — not a person directly. Often appears in continuous form when the failure is unfolding in real time (current sales, current reception). Use past tense 'flopped' for a finished failure.
常見錯誤
flopping — noun
1. the event of a film, show, product, or business failing badly in the market — us
the event of a film, show, product, or business failing badly in the market — used as a noun naming the failure itself.
The flopping of Mira's first restaurant taught her how to read a neighbourhood before signing a lease.
the flopping of + noun (event-noun use)
Asher blamed the flopping of the new album on poor marketing rather than the songs.
blamed the flopping of + creative work
Investors fear the flopping of small bookshops will continue across the city this year.
The flopping of Zola's two startups in one year finally taught her how to test an idea cheaply first.
- success
broad opposite covering any positive outcome
用法筆記
Almost always used with 'the flopping of [thing]' — naming a specific commercial or creative failure. Plural 'floppings' is rare; native speakers usually choose 'flops' as the count noun. Distinguish from sense 2: this sense is about commercial outcome, not physical movement.
常見錯誤
2. the soft, heavy noise (or the motion that makes it) when something loose lands o
the soft, heavy noise (or the motion that makes it) when something loose lands on a surface without control — like a wet fish hitting a deck or a tired body landing on a bed.
Bao heard the flopping of fish in the wooden bucket beside the dock.
flopping of + animal subject + container
The flopping of Liam's heavy backpack onto the tiled floor woke the baby.
flopping of + heavy object onto + surface
Gita listened to the gentle flopping of wet laundry as the spin cycle slowed down.
A loud flopping came from the attic, where the cat was knocking books off a shelf.
用法筆記
Refers to the action OR the sound it makes; the sound is usually soft and wet rather than sharp. Frequently appears with 'of' + the falling thing, or as a bare noun describing a single audible event. Distinguish from sense 1 (commercial failure) and sense 3 (computing speed).
3. a measure of computing speed equal to one decimal-number calculation each second
a measure of computing speed equal to one decimal-number calculation each second — the rate engineers track when comparing how fast supercomputers handle scientific maths.
Tendai's research group measured the flopping rate of the new GPU during a week-long benchmark.
flopping rate of + hardware (domain: computing)
The flopping count of the lab's old server was finally too low for the new climate model.
flopping count of + server (technical noun)
Andrew explained that the flopping speed of a chip can be more important than its memory size for scientific computing.
Ingrid plotted the flopping figures for each processor on the seminar whiteboard.
- throughput
broader: any rate of work done by a system per second
用法筆記
Highly technical; almost only used in computing research, hardware reviews, and supercomputer benchmarks. The unit is usually written as the acronym FLOPS in technical text; the noun 'flopping' appears in extended descriptions of the rate, count, or speed. Not used in everyday speech.
flopping — adverb
1. with a heavy, slapping landing that hits a target right in the middle — used aft
with a heavy, slapping landing that hits a target right in the middle — used after a verb of motion to stress how squarely the thing landed.
Soraya threw the wet towel flopping into the laundry basket from across the room.
[verb] + flopping + into + target (adverbial)
The watermelon slid off the table and landed flopping onto the kitchen tiles.
landed flopping onto + surface
Yuki tossed the salmon fillet flopping onto the hot grill pan.
Iker fell flopping into the swimming pool fully dressed after losing the bet.
- vaguely
implies an imprecise, off-center landing
文法句型
[verb of motion] + flopping + into/onto/in
用法筆記
Rare and very informal; only attested in American English. Combines the manner of a wet, heavy landing with the precision of hitting a target exactly. Native speakers more often choose 'right' or 'smack' for the same precision feel. Distinguish from the verb sense by position: as an adverb it modifies a separate verb of motion (threw, fell, tossed) instead of being the main verb itself.