Flail

Flail
For other uses, see flail (disambiguation).
An example of a grain flail

A flail is an agricultural tool used for threshing to separate grains from their husks.

It is usually made from two or more large sticks attached by a short chain; one stick is held and swung, causing the other to strike a pile of grain, loosening the husks. The precise dimensions and shape of flails were determined by generations of farmers to suit the particular grain they were harvesting. For example, flails used by farmers in Quebec to process wheat were generally made from two pieces of wood, the handle being about 1.5 m long by 3 cm in diameter, and the second stick being about 1 m long by about 3 cm in diameter, with a slight taper towards the end. Flails for other grains, such as rice or spelt, would have had different dimensions.

French peasants threshing with flails around 1270.

Flails have generally fallen into disuse in many nations because of the availability of technologies such as combine harvesters that require much less manual labour. But in many places, such as Minnesota, wild rice can only be harvested using manual means, specifically through the use of a canoe and a flail that is made of smooth, round wood no more than 30 inches long.

The crook and flail depicted in ancient Egyptian art.

The flail is depicted alongside the “crook” as symbols of office for the crowned Egyptian Pharaoh. The flail symbolises the Pharaoh's role as provider of food for his people and the crook symbolises his role as the shepherd of his people. Both crook and flail also serve to link the Pharaoh with Osiris. Depictions of Anubis, the jackal-headed god of the embalming, also include the flail as attribute.

Non-agricultural uses

See also: Flail (weapon)

As with most agricultural tools, flails were often used as weapons by farmers who may have lacked better weapons. The French Revolution was mostly fought with agricultural tools.[citation needed] The flail is proposed as one of the origins of the two-piece baton known in the kobudo weapon system as the nunchaku. The first known use of a flail as a weapon was by farmers under the leadership of Jan Žižka during the Hussite Wars in Bohemia.

References

External links

Media related to Threshing flails at Wikimedia Commons


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Flail — Flail, n. [L. flagellum whip, scourge, in LL., a threshing flail: cf. OF. flael, flaiel, F. fl[ e]au. See {Flagellum}.] 1. An instrument for threshing or beating grain from the ear by hand, consisting of a wooden staff or handle, at the end of… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • flail — flā(ə)l adj exhibiting abnormal mobility and loss of response to normal controls used of body parts damaged by paralysis, injury, or surgery <flail joint> * * * (flāl) exhibiting abnormal or paradoxical mobility, as flail joint, flail… …   Medical dictionary

  • flail — (n.) implement for threshing grain, c.1100, perhaps from an unrecorded O.E. *flegel, which probably represents W.Gmc. *flagil (Cf. M.Du., Low Ger. vlegel, O.H.G. flegel, Ger. flegel), a borrowing of L.L. flagellum winnowing tool, flail, from L.… …   Etymology dictionary

  • flail — [flāl] n. [ME fleil < OFr flaiel & OE * flegel, both < L flagellum, a whip, scourge: see FLAGELLATE] a farm tool consisting of a free swinging stick tied to the end of a long handle, used to thresh grain vt., vi. 1. to thresh with a flail 2 …   English World dictionary

  • flail — ► NOUN ▪ a tool or machine with a swinging action, used for threshing. ► VERB 1) swing wildly. 2) (flail around/about) flounder; struggle. ORIGIN Latin flagellum little whip …   English terms dictionary

  • flail — index beat (strike) Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • flail — [v] beat, strike bash, batter, club, flog, hit, knock, lash, maltreat, pummel, slug, smack, smash, sock, thrash, thwack, whale; concepts 189,246 …   New thesaurus

  • flail — I. noun Etymology: Middle English fleil, flail, partly from Old English *flegel (whence Old English fligel), from Late Latin flagellum flail, from Latin, whip & partly from Anglo French flael, from Late Latin flagellum more at flagellate Date:… …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • flail — [[t]fle͟ɪl[/t]] flails, flailing, flailed 1) V ERG If your arms or legs flail or if you flail them about, they wave about in an energetic but uncontrolled way. His arms were flailing in all directions... [V n] He gave a choked cry, flailed his… …   English dictionary

  • flail — /flayl/, n. 1. an instrument for threshing grain, consisting of a staff or handle to one end of which is attached a freely swinging stick or bar. 2. a similar instrument used as a weapon of war. v.t., v.i. 3. to beat or swing with or as if with a …   Universalium

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