Adjacent Words

flag definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
2: a listing printed in all issues of a newspaper or magazine (usually on the editorial page) that gives the name of the publication and the names of the editorial staff, etc. [syn: masthead, flag]
3: plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals [syn: iris, flag, fleur-de-lis, sword lily]
4: a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device [syn: flag, signal flag]
5: flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green [syn: pin, flag]
6: stratified stone that splits into pieces suitable as paving stones [syn: flag, flagstone]
7: a conspicuously marked or shaped tail v
1: communicate or signal with a flag
2: provide with a flag; "Flag this file so that I can recognize it immediately"
3: droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness [syn: sag, droop, swag, flag]
4: decorate with flags; "the building was flagged for the holiday"
5: become less intense [syn: ease up, ease off, slacken off, flag]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: Middle English flagge reed, rush Date: 14th century any of various monocotyledonous plants with long ensiform leaves: as a. iris; especially a wild iris b. sweet flag II. noun Usage: often attributive Etymology: probably akin to fag end of cloth — more at fag end Date: 1530 1. a usually rectangular piece of fabric of distinctive design that is used as a symbol (as of a nation), as a signaling device, or as a decoration 2. a. the tail of some dogs (as a setter or hound); also the long hair fringing a dog's tail b. the tail of a deer 3. a. something used like a flag to signal or attract attention b. one of the cross strokes of a musical note less than a quarter note in value 4. something represented by a flag: as a. flagship b. an admiral functioning in his office of command c. nationality; especially the nationality of registration of a ship or aircraft III. transitive verb (flagged; flagging) Date: 1856 1. to signal with or as if with a flag; especially to signal to stop <flagged the train> — often used with down 2. to mark or identify with or as if with a flag <flagged potential problems in the proposal> 3. to call a penalty on ; penalize <a lineman flagged for being offside> IV. intransitive verb (flagged; flagging) Etymology: probably from ²flag Date: 1545 1. to hang loose without stiffness 2. a. to become unsteady, feeble, or spiritless b. to decline in interest, attraction, or value <flagging stock prices> V. noun Etymology: Middle English flagge turf, perhaps from Old Norse flaga slab; akin to Old English fl?h chip Date: 1604 a hard evenly stratified stone that splits into flat pieces suitable for paving; also a piece of such stone VI. transitive verb (flagged; flagging) Date: 1615 to lay (as a pavement) with flags

Oxford Reference Dictionary

1. n. & v. --n. 1 a a piece of cloth, usu. oblong or square, attachable by one edge to a pole or rope and used as a country's emblem or as a standard, signal, etc. b a small toy, device, etc., resembling a flag. 2 Brit. an oblong strip of metal etc. that can be raised or lowered to indicate whether a taxi is for hire or occupied. 3 Naut. a flag carried by a flagship as an emblem of an admiral's rank afloat. --v. (flagged, flagging) 1 intr. a grow tired; lose vigour; lag (his energy flagged after the first lap). b hang down; droop; become limp. 2 tr. a place a flag on or over. b mark out with or as if with a flag or flags. 3 tr. (often foll. by that) a inform (a person) by flag-signals. b communicate (information) by flagging. Phrases and idioms: black flag 1 a pirate's ensign. 2 hist. a flag hoisted outside a prison to announce an execution. flag-boat a boat serving as a mark in sailing-matches. flag-captain the captain of a flagship. flag-day Brit. a day on which money is raised for a charity by the sale of small paper flags etc. in the street. Flag Day US 14 June, the anniversary of the adoption of the Stars and Stripes in 1777. flag down signal to (a vehicle or driver) to stop. flag-lieutenant Naut. an admiral's ADC. flag-list Naut. a roll of flag-officers. flag of convenience a foreign flag under which a ship is registered, usu. to avoid financial charges etc. flag-officer Naut. an admiral, vice admiral, or rear admiral, or the commodore of a yacht-club. flag of truce a white flag indicating a desire for a truce. flag-pole = FLAGSTAFF. flag-rank Naut. the rank attained by flag-officers. flag-station a station at which trains stop only if signalled. flag-wagging sl. 1 signalling with hand-held flags. 2 = flag-waving. flag-waver a populist agitator; a chauvinist. flag-waving populist agitation, chauvinism. keep the flag flying continue the fight. put the flag out celebrate victory, success, etc. show the flag 1 make an official visit to a foreign port etc. 2 ensure that notice is taken of one's country, oneself, etc.; make a patriotic display. Derivatives: flagger n. Etymology: 16th c.: perh. f. obs. flag drooping 2. n. & v. --n. (also flagstone) 1 a flat usu. rectangular stone slab used for paving. 2 (in pl.) a pavement made of these. --v.tr. (flagged, flagging) pave with flags. Etymology: ME, = sod: cf. Icel. flag spot from which a sod has been cut out, ON flaga slab of stone, and FLAKE(1) 3. n. 1 any plant with a bladed leaf (esp. several of the genus Iris) growing on moist ground. 2 the long slender leaf of such a plant. Etymology: ME: cf. MDu. flag, Da. flæg 4. n. (in full flag-feather) a quill-feather of a bird's wing. Etymology: perh. rel. to obs. fag loose flap: cf. FLAG(1) v.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, n. (Zo["o]l.) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called also flag feather.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, v. t. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, n. [From Flag to hang loose, to bend down.] (Bot.) 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, n., 2.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, v. t. To furnish or deck out with flags.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag (fl[a^]g), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Flagged; p. pr. & vb. n. Flagging.] [Cf. Icel. flaka to droop, hang loosely. Cf. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag (fl[a^]g), v. t. 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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, n. [Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D. 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. (Zo["o]l.) (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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, n. [Icel. flaga, cf. Icel. flag spot where a turf has been cut out, and E. flake layer, scale. Cf. Floe.] 1. A flat stone used for paving. --Woodward. 2. (Geol.) Any hard, evenly stratified sandstone, which splits into layers suitable for flagstones.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, v. t. [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.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Flag Flag, v. t. To lay with flags of flat stones. The sides and floor are all flagged with . . . marble. --Sandys.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(flags, flagging, flagged) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. A flag is a piece of cloth which can be attached to a pole and which is used as a sign, signal, or symbol of something, especially of a particular country. The Marines climbed to the roof of the embassy building to raise the American flag... They had raised the white flag in surrender. N-COUNT 2. Journalists sometimes refer to the flag of a particular country or organization as a way of referring to the country or organization itself and its values or power. Joining John Whitaker will be his brother Michael also riding under the British flag... N-COUNT: with supp, usu adj N, N of n 3. If you flag or if your spirits flag, you begin to lose enthusiasm or energy. His enthusiasm was in no way flagging... By 4,000m he was beginning to flag. VERB: V, V 4. see also flagged 5. If you fly the flag, you show that you are proud of your country, or that you support a particular cause, especially when you are in a foreign country or when few other people do. PHRASE: V inflects

Easton's Bible Dictionary

(Heb., or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Gen. 41:2, 18; probably the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nile reed. It also grows in Palestine.

In Ex. 2:3, 5, Isa. 19:6, it is the rendering of the Hebrew _suph_, a word which occurs frequently in connection with _yam_; as _yam suph_, to denote the "Red Sea" (q.v.) or the sea of weeds (as this word is rendered, Jonah 2:5). It denotes some kind of sedge or reed which grows in marshy places. (See PAPER ?T0002840, REED.)

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

Two Hebrew words:

(1) cuph (Ex 2:3,1, "flags"; Isa 19:6, "flags"; Jon 2:5, "weeds"). This is apparently a general name which includes both the fresh-water weeds growing along a river bank and "seaweeds." The Red Sea was known as Yam cuph.

(2) 'achu (Ge 41:2,18, the King James Version "meadow," the Revised Version (British and American) "reed-grass"; Job 8:11, "Can the rush grow up without mire? Can the flag (margin "reed-grass") grow without water?"). Some such general term as "sedges" or "fens" would better meet the requirements.

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. n. 1. Hang loose, droop. 2. Languish, droop, faint, decline, pine, sink, succumb, become weak, grow languid, lose vigor, become dejected. 3. Pall, grow stale, become vapid, lose interest. II. n. 1. Flag-stone, flat paving stone. 2. Banner, streamer, colors, standard, pennon, pennant, ensign, gonfalon. 3. Iris, flower-de-luce, flower-de-lis (Iris pseudacorus).

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A groat. Cant.--The flag of defiance, or bloody flag is out; signifying the man is drunk, and alluding to the redness of his face. SEA PHRASE.

Moby Thesaurus

Dannebrog, Jolly Roger, Old Glory, Star-Spangled Banner, Stars and Stripes, Tarmac, Tarvia, Union Flag, Union Jack, abate, adobe, and blue, ashlar, asphalt, banderole, banner, banneret, bead, beat, beat the drum, bejewel, beribbon, bespangle, bitumen, bituminous macadam, black flag, blacktop, blade, blow, blue ensign, bract, bracteole, bractlet, break, break down, brick, bricks and mortar, bunting, burgee, burn out, carpet, causeway, cave in, cement, check off, clinker, coachwhip, cobble, cobblestone, collapse, color, colors, come apart, come unstuck, concrete, conk out, cotyledon, covering materials, crack up, crumble, curb, curbing, curbstone, dally, dangle, dawdle, debilitate, decline, decrease, degenerate, delay, desiccate, deteriorate, diamond, die, dillydally, diminish, dip, disintegrate, do in, do up, drag, droop, drop, dry up, dwindle, ease up, ebb, edgestone, enervate, engrave, ensign, exchange colors, exhaust, fade, fade away, fag, fag out, fail, faint, fall off, falter, fatigue, feather, ferroconcrete, festoon, figure, filigree, firebrick, fizzle out, flag down, flagging, flagstone, flash, floor, flooring, floral leaf, flounce, flower, foliole, frazzle, frond, garland, gasp, gem, gesture, get tired, give a signal, give out, give the nod, give way, glance, glume, go downhill, go soft, go to pieces, gonfalon, gonfanon, goof off, gravel, grow weary, guidon, hail, hail and speak, half-mast, halt, hang down, harass, hit the skids, hoist a banner, house flag, identify, illuminate, inform, involucre, involucrum, jack, jade, jewel, kerb, kerbstone, kick, knock out, knock up, label, lag, lamina, languish, lath and plaster, leaf, leaflet, leer, lemma, lessen, let up, ligule, linger, loiter, lollygag, long pennant, lose strength, macadam, make a sign, mark, masonry, merchant flag, metal, mortar, motion, national flag, needle, nod, nudge, oriflamme, overfatigue, overstrain, overtire, overweary, paint, pant, pave, pavement, pavestone, paving, paving material, paving stone, peak, pebble, peg out, pendant, pennant, pennon, pennoncel, petal, peter out, pile, pine, pine needle, plasters, play out, plume, poke, poop, poop out, prestressed concrete, prostrate, puff, puff and blow, raise a cry, red, red ensign, ribbon, road metal, roofage, roofing, royal standard, run down, run out, sag, salute, sear, seed leaf, sepal, shilly-shally, shrink, shrivel, siding, sign, signal, signal flag, signalize, sink, slump, sound an alarm, sound the trumpet, spangle, spathe, speak, spear, spire, standard, stipula, stipule, stone, stop, streamer, subside, succumb, swag, swallowtail, tab, tag, taper off, tar, tarmacadam, tarry, tick off, tile, tiling, tinsel, tire, tire out, tire to death, touch, trail, tricolor, tucker, unfurl a flag, use up, vexillum, walling, wane, warn, washboard, waste, waste away, waste time, wave, wave a flag, wave the hand, weaken, wear, wear away, wear down, wear on, wear out, wear thin, weary, wheeze, white, wilt, wind, wink, wither, wither away, wizen, wreathe, yield