flag

Plural: flags

Noun

emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
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.
plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals
a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device
flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green
stratified stone that splits into pieces suitable as paving stones
a conspicuously marked or shaped tail
A piece of cloth, often decorated with an emblem, used as a visual signal or symbol.
The design that could be placed on a flag, typically a rectangular graphic that is used to represent an entity (like a country, organisation or group of people) or an idea.
A flag flown by a ship to show the presence on board of the admiral; the admiral himself, or his flagship.
A signal flag.
The use of a flag, especially to indicate the start of a race or other event.
A variable or memory location that stores a Boolean true-or-false, yes-or-no value, typically either recording the fact that a certain event has occurred or requesting that a certain optional action take place.
In a command line interface, a command parameter requesting optional behavior or otherwise modifying the action of the command being invoked.
A mechanical indicator that pops up to draw the pilot's attention to a problem or malfunction.
The game of capture the flag.
A sequence of faces of a given polytope, one of each dimension up to that of the polytope (formally, though in practice not always explicitly, including the null face and the polytope itself), such that each face in the sequence is part of the next-higher dimension face.
A sequence of subspaces of a vector space, beginning with the null space and ending with the vector space itself, such that each member of the sequence (until the last) is a proper subspace of the next.
A dark piece of material that can be mounted on a stand to block or shape the light.
An apron.
An indication that a certain outcome or event is going to happen, deduced not logically or causally, but as a pattern in a piece of media. Chiefly used in video games and adjacent media, especially visual novels, it is typically described as being raised or set by the plot or words of a character.
Any of various plants with sword-shaped leaves, especially irises; specifically, Iris pseudacorus.
A slice of turf; a sod.
A slab of stone; a flagstone, a flat piece of stone used for paving.
Any hard, evenly stratified sandstone, which splits into layers suitable for flagstones.
A group of feathers on the lower part of the legs of certain hawks, owls, etc.
A group of elongated wing feathers in certain hawks.
The bushy tail of a dog such as a setter.
A hook attached to the stem of a written note that assigns its rhythmic value

Verb

Verb Forms: flagged, flagging, flags

To mark something for attention; to indicate or identify.
communicate or signal with a flag
provide with a flag
- "Flag this file so that I can recognize it immediately"
droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
decorate with flags
- "the building was flagged for the holiday"
become less intense
To furnish or deck out with flags.
To mark with a flag, especially to indicate the importance of something.
To signal to, especially to stop a passing vehicle etc.
To convey (a message) by means of flag signals.
To note, mark or point out for attention.
To signal (an event).
To set a program variable to true.
To decoy (game) by waving a flag, handkerchief, etc. to arouse the animal's curiosity.
To penalize for an infraction.
To lose on time, especially in a blitz game; when using a traditional analog chess clock, a flag would fall when time expired.
To defeat (an opponent) on time, especially in a blitz game.
To point the muzzle of a firearm at a person or object one does not intend to fire on.
To fail, such as a class or an exam.
In female canids, to signal mating readiness by moving the tail aside to expose the vulva.
To weaken, become feeble.
To hang loose without stiffness; to bend down, as flexible bodies; to be loose, yielding, limp.
To let droop; to suffer to fall, or let fall, into feebleness.
To enervate; to exhaust the vigour or elasticity of.
To pave with flagstones.

Examples

After he flagged Algebra, Mike was ineligible for the football team.
Flag the debug option before running the program.
Fred is planning to flag his patio this weekend.
His strength flagged toward the end of the race.
I had to FLAG that dubious word choice to check its validity.
I've flagged up the need for further investigation into this.
Please flag down a taxi for me.
raise the heroine's flags (in a galge)
set a death flag
The compiler flagged three errors.
The defender was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct.
The flag of France has three vertical stripes.
to flag an order to troops or vessels at a distance
Users of the Internet forum can flag others' posts as inappropriate.
White was winning positionally, but Black managed to flag him and win.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English flag, flagge (“flag”), further etymology uncertain. Perhaps from or related to early Middle English flage (name for a baby's garment) and Old English flagg, flacg (“cataplasm, poultice, plaster”). Or, perhaps ultimately imitative, or otherwise drawn from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”), referring to the shape.
Germanic cognates include Saterland Frisian Flaage (“flag”), West Frisian flagge (“flag”), Dutch vlag (“flag”), German Flagge (“flag”), Swedish flagga (“flag”), Danish flag (“flag, ship's flag”). Compare also Middle English flacken (“to flutter, palpitate”), Swedish dialectal flage (“to flutter in the wind”), Old Norse flögra (“to flap about”). Akin to Old High German flogarōn (“to flutter”), Old High German flogezen (“to flutter, flicker”), Middle English flakeren (“to move quickly to and fro”), Old English flacor (“fluttering, flying”). More at flack, flacker.

Synonyms

droop, ease off, ease up, flagstone, fleur-de-lis, iris, masthead, pin, sag, signal flag, slacken off, swag, sword lily, Boolean, dart, option, switch

Scrabble Score: 8

flag: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
flag: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
flag: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

flag: valid Words With Friends Word