Meaning of flip In English

• 0 If you flip something, you turn it over quickly one or more times, and if something flips, it turns over quickly:

  • I flipped the book (over) to look at the back cover.

  • I lost my place in my book when the pages flipped over in the wind.

  • You turn the machine on by flipping (= operating) the switch on the side.

  • The captains flipped a coin into the air (= made it turn over in the air to see which side it landed on) to decide which side would bat first.

  • I don't want to spend the rest of my life flipping burgers.

• 1 to buy something, such as a house, that is not in very good condition, improve it, then sell it quickly for more money:

  • I am going to take three weeks' vacation and flip this house.

  • She makes money flipping old and tired furniture pieces.

• 2 to make a statement in court against someone when you are both accused of a crime; to persuade someone to do this:

  • There are cases in which prosecutors have threatened to seek the death penalty unless a witness flips against a co-defendant.

  • He is a Federal prosecutor who specializes in flipping witnesses.

• 3 to change from supporting one political party to supporting a different one; to make people in a particular place do this:

  • They produced a list of the districts that are considered most likely to flip in the upcoming elections.

  • The Democrats are expected to flip at least two Republican-held congressional districts in Texas.

• 4 an occasion when something turns over quickly or repeatedly:

  • a flip of a coin

  • The acrobats were doing somersaults and flips (= jumping and turning their bodies over in the air).

• 5 informal for flippant

• 6 used when you are slightly annoyed:

  • Oh, flip, I've missed the bus.

• 7 to cause something to turn over quickly one or more times, or to cause something to move by making a short, quick motion:

  • [ I/T ] I flipped (through) the pages of the dictionary to look up a word.

  • [ T ] You just flip a switch to turn on the computer.

  • [ T ] At the beginning of a football game, the referee flips a coin (= throws it into the air so that it spins in falling) to see which team gets the ball first.

• 8 the act of turning something over quickly one or more times:

  • They settled the issue by a flip of the coin.

• 9 to sell shares or property immediately after you have bought them in order to make a quick profit:

  • Big institutional clients of investment banks buy and then flip the shares.

  • They are looking to flip the property: they buy at the first stage of development, and aim to sell before they have to pay the final instalment.