flag 1
— flagger , n. — flagless , adj.
/flag/ , n. , v. , flagged, flagging .
n.
1. a piece of cloth, varying in size, shape, color, and design, usually attached at one edge to a staff or cord, and used as the symbol of a nation, state, or organization, as a means of signaling, etc.; ensign; standard; banner; pennant.
2. Ornith. the tuft of long feathers on the legs of falcons and most hawks; the lengthened feathers on the crus or tibia.
3. Hunting. the tail of a deer or of a setter dog.
4. Journalism.
a. the nameplate of a newspaper.
b. masthead (def. 1).
c. the name of a newspaper as printed on the editorial page.
5. a tab or tag attached to a page, file card, etc., to mark it for attention.
6. Music. hook (def. 12a).
7. Motion Pictures , Television. a small gobo.
8. Usually, flags . the ends of the bristles of a brush, esp. a paintbrush, when split.
9. Computers. a symbol, value, or other means of identifying data of interest, or of informing later parts of a program what conditions earlier parts have encountered.
10. strike the flag ,
a. to relinquish command, as of a ship.
b. to submit or surrender: His financial situation is growing worse, but he's not ready to strike the flag. Also, strike one's flag .
v.t.
11. to place a flag or flags over or on; decorate with flags.
12. to signal or warn (a person, automobile, etc.) with or as if with a flag (sometimes fol. by down ): to flag a taxi; to flag down a passing car.
13. to communicate (information) by or as if by a flag.
14. to decoy, as game, by waving a flag or the like to excite attention or curiosity.
15. to mark (a page in a book, file card, etc.) for attention, as by attaching protruding tabs.
16. (of a brush) to split the ends of the bristles.
[ 1475-85; perh. b. FLAP (n.) and FAG 1 (n.) in obs. sense "flap" ]
flag 2
/flag/ , n.
1. any of various plants with long, sword-shaped leaves, as the sweet flag.
2. See blue flag .
3. the long, slender leaf of such a plant or of a cereal.
[ 1350-1400; ME flagge ]
flag 3
/flag/ , v.i. , flagged, flagging .
1. to fall off in vigor, energy, activity, interest, etc.: Public enthusiasm flagged when the team kept losing.
2. to hang loosely or limply; droop.
[ 1535-45; perh. b. of FLAP (v.) and FAG 1 (v.) in obs. sense "to droop". See FLAG 1 ]
Syn. 1. dwindle, wilt, slump, sag, wane.
flag 4
— flagger , n.
/flag/ , n. , v. , flagged, flagging .
n.
1. flagstone (def. 1).
2. flags , flagstone (def. 2).
v.t.
3. to pave with flagstones.
[ 1400-50; late ME flagge piece of sod; akin to ON flaga slab ]