How to Use belly flop in a Sentence

belly flop

noun
  • She did a belly flop into the pool.
  • Texas likes to make a splash even if that splash is a belly flop.
    — Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas News, 13 Mar. 2023
  • One of them did a flip and then the other one that made the movie kind of fell over and did a belly flop.
    — Gabe Bergado, Teen Vogue, 20 May 2019
  • One young bear performed repeat belly flops into schools of fish but never caught one.
    — Eva Sohlman, New York Times, 7 Oct. 2019
  • In part, because of the chance of a painful and embarrassing belly flop.
    — Ann Killion, San Francisco Chronicle, 26 Apr. 2021
  • Some kids stepped up to the diving board, hoping for a graceful dive but ending in a half belly flop.
    — Madison Smalstig, The Indianapolis Star, 11 July 2022
  • Raygun was seen belly flopping, hopping around and rolling around on the floor, leaving many with much to say.
    — Amber Corrine, VIBE.com, 6 Sep. 2024
  • Since then, each Celtics road trip of four games or longer has given way to a similar belly flop at home.
    — Jay King, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2025
  • But rays also will sometimes leap up and do a back flop or a belly flop, trying to shake off parasites.
    — al, 18 July 2022
  • There’s no bigger thrill than the crisp clap of a massive belly flop made by an actual massive belly.
    — Erik Piepenburg, New York Times, 19 Mar. 2020
  • The school released video, which has almost reached one million views, of the coach executing a belly flop.
    — Mark Heim | [email protected], al, 6 Aug. 2019
  • After the game, Reid went over to a celebrating Jones and just belly flopped on top of him.
    — Mike Freeman, USA TODAY, 12 Feb. 2024
  • And then there are the long-term, indirect costs of an implementation belly flop.
    — Rodger Dean Duncan, Forbes, 30 Sep. 2024
  • And with that, the 32-year-old executed a belly flop into the water.
    — Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAY, 16 Nov. 2019
  • Launch, hover, belly flop return, and crucially, the landing.
    — Jonathan O'Callaghan, Forbes, 6 May 2021
  • The team’s five-year player-development belly flop ultimately is on him, too.
    — Eric Koreen, The Athletic, 9 July 2024
  • Well that one too, as the Chargers produced a 41-29 belly flop to put a wrinkle in their playoff plans.
    — Jay Paris, Forbes, 27 Dec. 2021
  • In Episode 2, wouldn’t tech-savvy Claudette have a proper iPhone case that would survive a three-story belly flop?
    — Nick Caruso, TVLine, 5 Sep. 2025
  • The mixture of belly flops and awkward falls off balance beams is simply intoxicating.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 23 Mar. 2023
  • To his credit, Johnson addressed the movie’s belly flop at the box office with candor and with maturity.
    — Cynthia Littleton, Variety, 12 Nov. 2025
  • First, visitors must step into the cycle area, straddle the seat, then kneel onto a padded area, and then lean forward — not really a belly flop but akin to it.
    — Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 2 Mar. 2023
  • If any further punctuation was needed, Babylon opened to a resounding belly flop at the box office.
    — Gregg Kilday, The Hollywood Reporter, 10 Jan. 2023
  • Without hesitating, Gus belly flopped into the water below with a splash, took a drink and began swimming.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Nov. 2024
  • On splashdown, the rocket tipped over and belly flopped into the sea as expected, broke apart and exploded as left over propellants ignited.
    — William Harwood, CBS News, 22 May 2026
  • By executing a belly flop, Starship can more accurately control its landing using its fins.
    — Daniel Oberhaus, Wired, 9 Dec. 2020
  • The Rangers rank third after a fantastic first two months followed by a 12-19 belly flop into the All-Star break.
    — Tim Cowlishaw, Dallas News, 14 July 2023
  • The four-location pool crawl included games and activities, such as a watermelon race and a belly flop competition.
    — Magda Liszewska, Orange County Register, 17 Oct. 2024
  • Visitors were clearly delighted, however, to encounter a giant panda cub climbing a tree before falling to the ground in a majestic belly flop.
    — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian, 10 July 2017
  • Serial inventor Elon Musk’s Cybertruck belly flopped at its world debut last week when its shatterproof glass shattered.
    — Washington Post, 29 Nov. 2019
  • After some comedy gold and a few belly flops, the queens took it to the runway in their best denim drag, inspired by queen of country and one of Thursday night’s guest judges Shania Twain.
    — Stephen Daw, Billboard, 20 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'belly flop.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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