Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of 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.
\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.
\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.
\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.
\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.
\Flag\, v. t. To furnish or deck out with flags.
\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.
\Flag\, v. t. To lay with flags of flat stones. The sides and floor are all flagged with . . . marble. --Sandys.
\Flag\, n. (Zo["o]l.) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called also {flag feather}.
\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.