Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To strip off the skin or outer covering of.
- v. To strip of money or goods; fleece.
- v. To whip or lash.
- v. To assail with stinging criticism; excoriate.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To skin; strip off the skin of: as, to flay an ox.
- To strip off, in a general sense.
- To cause to fly; put to flight.
- To frighten.
- To be fear-struck.
- n. Fright; fear.
- n. A kick; a random blow; a fit of ill humor.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To skin; to strip off the skin or surface of
WordNet 3.0
- v. strip the skin off
Etymologies
- Middle English flen, from Old English flēan.
Examples
“Looks like someone's cosy old granny and has a tongue that would flay a kangaroo.”
Rat Race
“Would Michelle flay the bannana prior to she cooking it?”
“Merciless, cruel, and unforgiving," wrote Angela Carter a more obvious admirer in her 1982 preface to this edition: "Stead has a rare capacity to flay the reader's sensibilities.”
“And when he later threatens the recalcitrant Goneril that her sister will "with her nails flay thy wolfish visage", he brandishes his own vulpine claw in her face.”
“A sharp blade brandished, he said I'm going to flay you for food.”
“And they lashed me with whips that flay the skin with each stroke.”
“Conlin, Chopp, everyone on the Council that supported that: Traitors, the lot of them, and this will literally flay and skin them come next election cycle if they don't stand up to the state.”
“It has become fashionable for critics such as Jonathan Alter, author of a very kind book on Obama's first year, and the New Republic's Jonathan Chait to flay liberals for criticizing Obama on the premise that Republicans were determined to block whatever he sent Congress.”
“You're lucky I don't flay you alive for this black deed!”
“They don't anticipate that harassment may await them, equal pay may still be a dream, poverty a reality for many, that a hypersexualised culture will dog their attempts to feel comfortable in their bodies and childcare will flay them when they come to reproduce.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘flay’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Undo
A list of terms that denote separating one thing from another, or deconstructing a thing into its parts or to a former state. E.g., untie, divorce, unscramble.
untie, divorce, unscramble, disunite, disjoin, undo, separate, disassemble, uncouple, unhitch, disassociate, disaffiliate and 178 more...
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