"flail about" in Chinese (Simplified)

• 胡乱挥舞
• 手忙脚乱

Definition

手脚乱挥，常因害怕或挣扎控制不住。也可以指人在困惑或不知所措时的混乱举动。

Usage Notes (Chinese (Simplified))

通常用于口语，描述人在水中挣扎或惊慌时四肢乱动，也常比喻人在混乱、中无助或不知所措时的举止。不要与“fail”混淆。

Examples

The child began to flail about in the pool when he couldn't touch the bottom.

孩子在游泳池踩不到底时开始**胡乱挥舞**手脚。

If you flail about on the ice, you might fall.

如果你在冰上**手忙脚乱**，可能会摔倒。

He started to flail about trying to find his glasses in the dark.

他在黑暗中试图找眼镜时开始**胡乱挥舞**手臂。

When the alarm went off, she flailed about looking for her phone.

闹钟响起时，她**手忙脚乱**地找手机。

I spent the first few days in the new job just flailing about until I figured things out.

入职头几天，我只是一直在**手忙脚乱**，直到我弄明白了。

Don’t just flail about—take a deep breath and think about your next step.

别一直**手忙脚乱**，深呼吸，想想下一步怎么做。