What does "flap-doodle" mean?

Alternative form of flapdoodle.

Flap-doodle

Common synonyms include: absurdity, all my eye, all my eye and betty martin, applesauce, bafflegab, balderdash.

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
Alternative form of flapdoodle. alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"On inquiry what the little brass seal was, the prophetess said, " Oh, it's only a flap-doodle of Olcott's.""
2
Alternative form of flap doodle. alt-of, alternative, countable, uncountable
"I fixed up a few feathers and flap-doodles and made the cutest and most stylish looking bug you ever saw."

Verb

1
Alternative form of flapdoodle. alt-of, alternative
"I suppose that men with stars on their breasts, men who have won the Military Cross, the Distinguished Service Order, and other distinctions have to “flap-doodle” to a man like that, and I hope the Govemment will take action in regard to the statements of this fictitious General, because, after all he is not a General in the true sense of the word, and bring him to book."

"On inquiry what the little brass seal was, the prophetess said, " Oh, it's only a flap-doodle of Olcott's.""

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.