Flag (flăg) intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flagged ; present participle & verbal noun Flagging .] [ Confer Icelandic flaka to droop, hang loosely. Confer Flacker , Flag an ensign.]
1. To hang loose without stiffness; to bend down, as flexible bodies; to be loose, yielding, limp.

As loose it [ the sail] flagged around the mast.

T. Moore.

2. To droop; to grow spiritless; to lose vigor; to languish; as, the spirits flag ; the streugth flags .

The pleasures of the town begin to flag .

Swift.

Syn. -- To droop; decline; fail; languish; pine.

Flag (flăg) transitive verb
1. To let droop; to suffer to fall, or let fall, into feebleness; as, to flag the wings. prior.

2. To enervate; to exhaust the vigor or elasticity of.

Nothing so flags the spirits.

Echard.

Flag noun [ Confer LG. & German flagge , Swedish flagg , Danish flag , Dutch vlag . See Flag to hang loose.]
1. That which flags or hangs down loosely.

2. A cloth usually bearing a device or devices and used to indicate nationality, party, etc., or to give or ask information; -- commonly attached to a staff to be waved by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors; as, the national flag ; a military or a naval flag .

3. (Zoology) (a) A group of feathers on the lower part of the legs of certain hawks, owls, etc. (b) A group of elongated wing feathers in certain hawks. (c) The bushy tail of a dog, as of a setter.

Black flag . See under Black . -- Flag captain , Flag leutenant , etc., special officers attached to the flagship, as aids to the flag officer. -- Flag officer , the commander of a fleet or squadron; an admiral, or commodore. -- Flag of truse , a white flag carried or displayed to an enemy, as an invitation to conference, or for the purpose of making some communication not hostile. -- Flag share , the flag officer's share of prize money. -- Flag station (Railroad) , a station at which trains do not stop unless signaled to do so, by a flag hung out or waved. -- National flag , a flag of a particular country, on which some national emblem or device, is emblazoned. -- Red flag , a flag of a red color, displayed as a signal of danger or token of defiance; the emblem of anarchists. -- To dip, the flag , to mlower it and quickly restore it to its place; -- done as a mark of respect. -- To hang out the white flag , to ask truce or quarter, or, in some cases, to manifest a friendly design by exhibiting a white flag. -- To hang the flag half-mast high or half- staff , to raise it only half way to the mast or staff, as a token or sign of mourning. -- To strike, or lower , the flag , to haul it down, in token of respect, submission, or, in an engagement, of surrender. -- Yellow flag , the quarantine flag of all nations; also carried at a vessel's fore, to denote that an infectious disease is on board.

Flag transitive verb [ From Flag an ensign.]
1. To signal to with a flag; as, to flag a train.

2. To convey, as a message, by means of flag signals; as, to flag an order to troops or vessels at a distance.

Flag noun [ From Flag to hang loose, to bend down.] (Botany) An aquatic plant, with long, ensiform leaves, belonging to either of the genera Iris and Acorus .

Cooper's flag , the cat-tail ( Typha latifolia ), the long leaves of which are placed between the staves of barrels to make the latter water-tight. -- Corn flag . See under 2d Corn . -- Flag broom , a coarse of broom, originally made of flags or rushes. -- Flag root , the root of the sweet flag. -- Sweet flag . See Calamus , noun , 2.

Flag transitive verb To furnish or deck out with flags.

Flag noun [ Icelandic flaga , confer Icelandic flag spot where a turf has been cut out, and English flake layer, scale. Confer Floe .]
1. A flat stone used for paving. Woodward.

2. (Geol.) Any hard, evenly stratified sandstone, which splits into layers suitable for flagstones.

Flag transitive verb To lay with flags of flat stones.

The sides and floor are all flagged with . . . marble.

Sandys.

Flag noun (Zoology) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called also flag feather .

Flag transitive verb To decoy (game) by waving a flag, handkerchief, or the like to arouse the animal's curiosity.

The antelope are getting continually shyer and more difficult to flag .

T. Roosevelt.

Flagellant noun [ Latin flagellans , past participle of flagellare : confer French flagellant . See Flagellate .] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a fanatical sect which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries, and maintained that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism and the sacrament; -- called also disciplinant .

Flagellata noun plural [ New Latin , from Latin flagellatus , p. p . See Flagellate , transitive verb ] (Zoology) An order of Infusoria, having one or two long, whiplike cilia, at the anterior end. It includes monads. See Infusoria , and Monad .

Flagellate transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flagellated ; present participle & verbal noun Flagellating .] [ Latin flagellatus , past participle of flagellare to scoure, from flagellum whip, dim. of flagrum whip, scoure; confer fligere to strike. Confer Flall .] To whip; to scourge; to flog.

Flagellate adjective
1. Flagelliform.

2. (Zoology) Of or pertaining to the Flagellata.

Flagellation noun [ Latin flagellatio : confer French flagellation .] A beating or flogging; a whipping; a scourging. Garth.

Flagellator noun One who practices flagellation; one who whips or scourges.

Flagelliform adjective [ Latin flagellum a whip + -form .] Shaped like a whiplash; long, slender, round, flexible, and (comming) tapering.

Flagellum noun ; plural English Flagellums , Latin Flagella . [ Latin , a whip. See Flagellate , transitive verb ]
1. (Botany) A young, flexible shoot of a plant; esp., the long trailing branch of a vine, or a slender branch in certain mosses.

2. (Zoology) (a) A long, whiplike cilium. See Flagellata . (b) An appendage of the reproductive apparatus of the snail. (c) A lashlike appendage of a crustacean, esp. the terminal ortion of the antennæ and the epipodite of the maxilipeds. See Maxilliped .

Flageolet noun [ French flageolet , dim. of Old French flaj...l (as if from a Late Latin flautio ; us ), of flaüte , flahute , French fl...te . See Flute .] (Mus.) A small wooden pipe, having six or more holes, and a mouthpiece inserted at one end. It produces a shrill sound, softer than of the piccolo flute, and is said to have superseded the old recorder.

Flageolet tones (Mus.) , the naturel harmonics or overtones of stringed instruments.

Flagginess noun The condition of being flaggy; laxity; limberness. Johnson.

Flagging noun A pavement or sidewalk of flagstones; flagstones, collectively.

Flagging adjective Growing languid, weak, or spiritless; weakening; delaying. -- Flag"ging*ly , adverb

Flaggy adjective
1. Weak; flexible; limber. " Flaggy wings." Spenser.

2. Tasteless; insipid; as, a flaggy apple. [ Obsolete] Bacon.

Flaggy adjective [ From 5th Flag .] Abounding with the plant called flag ; as, a flaggy marsh.

Flagitate transitive verb [ Latin flagitatus , past participle of flagitare to demand. See Flagitious .] To importune; to demand fiercely or with passion. [ Archaic] Carcyle.

Flagitation noun [ Latin flagitatio .] Importunity; urgent demand. [ Archaic] Carlyle.

Flagitious adjective [ Latin flagitiosus , from flagitium a shameful or disgraceful act, orig., a burning desire, heat of passion, from flagitare to demand hotly, fiercely; confer flagrare to burn, English flagrant .]
1. Disgracefully or shamefully criminal; grossly wicked; scandalous; shameful; -- said of acts, crimes, etc.

Debauched principles and flagitious practices.

I. Taylor.

2. Guilty of enormous crimes; corrupt; profligate; -- said of persons. Pope.

3. Characterized by scandalous crimes or vices; as, flagitious times. Pope.

Syn. -- Atrocious; villainous; flagrant; heinous; corrupt; profligate; abandoned. See Atrocious .

-- Fla*gi"tious*ly , adverb -- Fla*gi"tious*ness , noun

A sentence so flagitiously unjust.

Macaulay.

Flagman noun ; plural Flagmen One who makes signals with a flag.

Flagon noun [ French flacon , for flascon , from Old French flasche , from Late Latin flasco . See Flask .] A vessel with a narrow mouth, used for holding and conveying liquors. It is generally larger than a bottle, and of leather or stoneware rather than of glass.

A trencher of mutton chops, and a flagon of ale.

Macaulay.

Flagrance noun Flagrancy. Bp. Hall.

Flagrancy noun ; plural Flagrancies . [ Latin flagrantia a burning. See Flagrant .]
1. A burning; great heat; inflammation. [ Obsolete]

Lust causeth a flagrancy in the eyes.

Bacon.

2. The condition or quality of being flagrant; atrocity; heiniousness; enormity; excess. Steele.

Flagrant adjective [ Latin flagrans , -antis , present participle of flagrate to burn, akin to Greek ...: confer French flagrant . Confer Flame , Phlox .]
1. Flaming; inflamed; glowing; burning; ardent.

The beadle's lash still flagrant on their back.

Prior.

A young man yet flagrant from the lash of the executioner or the beadle.

De Quincey.

Flagrant desires and affections.

Hooker.

2. Actually in preparation, execution, or performance; carried on hotly; raging.

A war the most powerful of the native tribes was flagrant .

Palfrey.

3. Flaming into notice; notorious; enormous; heinous; glaringly wicked.

Syn. -- Atrocious; flagitious; glaring. See Atrocious .

Flagrantly adverb In a flagrant manner.

Flagrate transitive verb [ Latin flagrare , flagratum , v.i. & t., to burn.] To burn. [ Obsolete] Greenhill.

Flagration noun A conflagration. [ Obsolete]

Flagship noun (Nautical) The vessel which carries the commanding officer of a fleet or squadron and flies his distinctive flag or pennant.

Flagstaff noun ; plural -staves or -staffs A staff on which a flag is hoisted.

Flagstone noun A flat stone used in paving, or any rock which will split into such stones. See Flag , a stone.

Flagworm noun (Zoology) A worm or grub found among flags and sedge.

Flail noun [ Latin flagellum whip, scourge, in Late Latin , a threshing flail: confer Old French flael , flaiel , French fléau . See Flagellum .]
1. An instrument for threshing or beating grain from the ear by hand, consisting of a wooden staff or handle, at the end of which a stouter and shorter pole or club, called a swipe, is so hung as to swing freely.

His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn.

Milton.

2. An ancient military weapon, like the common flail, often having the striking part armed with rows of spikes, or loaded. Fairholt.

No citizen thought himself safe unless he carried under his coat a small flail , loaded with lead, to brain the Popish assassins.

Macaulay.

Flaily adjective Acting like a flail. [ Obsolete] Vicars.

Flain obsolete past participle of Flay . Chaucer.

Flair (flâr) noun [ Middle English flaire odor, from Old French & French flair , from Old French flairier , French flairer , to smell, Late Latin flagrare for Latin fragrare . See Flagrant .]
1. Smell; odor. [ Obsolete]

2. Sense of smell; scent; fig., discriminating sense.

Flake (flāk) noun [ Confer Icelandic flaki , fleki , Danish flage , Dutch vlaak .]
1. A paling; a hurdle. [ prov. Eng.]

2. A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things.

You shall also, after they be ripe, neither suffer them to have straw nor fern under them, but lay them either upon some smooth table, boards, or flakes of wands, and they will last the longer.

English Husbandman.

3. (Nautical) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on in calking, etc.

Flake transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flaked ; present participle & verbal noun Flaking .] To form into flakes. Pope.

Flake intransitive verb To separate in flakes; to peel or scale off.

Flake noun [ Etym. uncertain; confer 1st Fake .] A flat layer, or fake, of a coiled cable.

Flake after flake ran out of the tubs, until we were compelled to hand the end of our line to the second mate.

F. T. Bullen.

Flakiness noun The state of being flaky.

Flaky adjective Consisting of flakes or of small, loose masses; lying, or cleaving off, in flakes or layers; flakelike.

What showers of mortal hail, what flaky fires!

Watts.

A flaky weight of winter's purest snows.

Wordsworth.

Flam (flăm) noun [ Confer Anglo-Saxon fleám , flǣm , flight. √ 84 . Confer Flimflam .] A freak or whim; also, a falsehood; a lie; an illusory pretext; deception; delusion. [ Obsolete]

A perpetual abuse and flam upon posterity.

South.

Flam transitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flammed ; present participle & verbal noun Flamming .] To deceive with a falsehood. [ Obsolete]

God is not to be flammed off with lies.

South.

Flambé adjective [ French, p.p. of flamber to singe, pass (a thing) through flame. Confer Flambeau .] (Ceramics) Decorated by glaze splashed or irregularly spread upon the surface, or apparently applied at the top and allowed to run down the sides; -- said of pieces of Chinese porcelain.

Flambeau ; noun ; plural Flambeaux or Flambeaus . [ French, from Old French flambe flame, for flamble , from Latin flammula a little flame, dim. of flamma flame. See Flame .] A flaming torch, esp. one made by combining together a number of thick wicks invested with a quick-burning substance (anciently, perhaps, wax; in modern times, pitch or the like); hence, any torch.

Flamboyant adjective [ French] (Architecture) Characterized by waving or flamelike curves, as in the tracery of windows, etc.; -- said of the later (15th century) French Gothic style.

Flamboyer noun [ French flamboyer to be bright.] (Botany) A name given in the East and West Indies to certain trees with brilliant blossoms, probably species of Cæsalpinia .

Flame (flām) noun [ Middle English flame , flaume , flaumbe , Old French flame , flambe , French flamme , from Latin flamma , from flamma , from flagrare to burn. See Flagrant , and confer Flamneau , Flamingo .]
1. A stream of burning vapor or gas, emitting light and heat; darting or streaming fire; a blaze; a fire.

2. Burning zeal or passion; elevated and noble enthusiasm; glowing imagination; passionate excitement or anger. "In a flame of zeal severe." Milton.

Where flames refin'd in breasts seraphic glow.

Pope.

Smit with the love of sister arts we came,
And met congenial, mingling flame with flame .

Pope.

3. Ardor of affection; the passion of love. Coleridge.

4. A person beloved; a sweetheart. Thackeray.

Syn. -- Blaze; brightness; ardor. See Blaze .

Flame bridge , a bridge wall. See Bridge , noun , 5. -- Flame color , brilliant orange or yellow. B. Jonson. -- Flame engine , an early name for the gas engine. -- Flame manometer , an instrument, invented by Koenig, to obtain graphic representation of the action of the human vocal organs. See Manometer . -- Flame reaction (Chemistry) , a method of testing for the presence of certain elements by the characteristic color imparted to a flame; as, sodium colors a flame yellow, potassium violet, lithium crimson, boracic acid green, etc. Confer Spectrum analysis , under Spectrum . -- Flame tree (Botany) , a tree with showy scarlet flowers, as the Rhododendron arboreum in India, and the Brachychiton acerifolium of Australia.

Flame intransitive verb [ imperfect & past participle Flamed ; present participle & verbal noun Flaming .] [ Middle English flamen , flaumben , French flamber , Old French also, flamer . See Flame , noun ]
1. To burn with a flame or blaze; to burn as gas emitted from bodies in combustion; to blaze.

The main blaze of it is past, but a small thing would make it flame again.

Shak.

2. To burst forth like flame; to break out in violence of passion; to be kindled with zeal or ardor.

He flamed with indignation.

Macaulay.

Flame transitive verb To kindle; to inflame; to excite.

And flamed with zeal of vengeance inwardly.

Spenser.