flip out

flip out
vb
to lose control, either through delight, anger, etc., under the influence of an illicit drug, or during the course of a nerv-ous breakdown. Both words spread from American English to world English in the 1960s and derive from the earlier 'flip one's wig' or 'flip one's lid', in use in the late 1940s and 1950s among hipsters, jazz enthusiasts and beatniks. To flip out was used to describe temporary insanity caused by LSD in the early days of the hippy era. The term is now old-fashioned (although surviving in French, particu-larly in the form flippe).
► 'He was worried about his mother, though. The old lady was flipping out.' (Requiem for a Dream, Hubert Selby Jr., 1979)

Contemporary slang . 2014.

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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Flip Out — Flip Out! Flip Out! Éditeur Jaguar : Atari Corporation PC : GameTek UK Développeur Gorilla Systems Corporation …   Wikipédia en Français

  • flip out — {v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To go insane, to go out of one s mind. * /A is impossible to talk to Joe today he must have flipped out./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • flip out — {v. phr.}, {slang}, {informal} To go insane, to go out of one s mind. * /A is impossible to talk to Joe today he must have flipped out./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Flip Out! — Éditeur Jaguar : Atari Corporation PC : GameTek UK Développeur Gorilla Systems Corporation …   Wikipédia en Français

  • flip out — [v] lose one’s cool blow a gasket*, blow one’s mind*, blow one’s stack*, blow one’s top*, crack up*, fly off the handle*, freak out*, go ape*, go ballistic*, go berserk*, go crazy*, go haywire*, go nuts*, go off the deep end*, hit the ceiling*,… …   New thesaurus

  • flip out — verb 1. react in an excited, delighted, or surprised way he flipped when he heard that he was accepted into Princeton University • Syn: ↑flip • Hypernyms: ↑react, ↑respond • Verb Frames: Somebody s …   Useful english dictionary

  • flip out — phrasal verb [intransitive] Word forms flip out : present tense I/you/we/they flip out he/she/it flips out present participle flipping out past tense flipped out past participle flipped out informal same as flip I, 4) …   English dictionary

  • flip out — to suddenly become excited, frightened, or crazy. He didn t just flip out and start shooting, he planned to kill them. The first time I saw that film, I absolutely flipped out. Usage notes: also used in the form flip someone out: I am not easily… …   New idioms dictionary

  • flip out — (Roget s 3 Superthesaurus) v. Sl. *go mental, *go berserk, *go ballistic, *go nuts, *lose it, *freak out, *flip one s lid …   English dictionary for students

  • flip\ out — v. phr. slang informal To go insane, to go out of one s mind. A is impossible to talk to Joe today he must have flipped out …   Словарь американских идиом

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