flag

v. t. [ From Flag an ensign. ] 1. To signal to with a flag or by waving the hand; as, to flag a train; also used with down; as, to flag down a cab. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To convey, as a message, by means of flag signals; as, to flag an order to troops or vessels at a distance. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. 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 1913 Suppl. ]

n. [ Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D. vlag. See Flag to hang loose. ] 1. That which flags or hangs down loosely. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Zool.) (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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Zool.) One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called also flag feather. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

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
To hang the flag half-staff or
To hang the flag at half-staff, to raise it only half way to the mast or staff, as a token or sign of mourning. --
To strike the flag or
To 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

As loose it [ the sail ] flagged around the mast. T. Moore. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To droop; to grow spiritless; to lose vigor; to languish; as, the spirits flag; the strength flags. [ 1913 Webster ]

The pleasures of the town begin to flag. Swift.

Syn. -- To droop; decline; fail; languish; pine. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To lay with flags of flat stones. [ 1913 Webster ]

The sides and floor are all flagged with . . . marble. Sandys. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Geol.) Any hard, evenly stratified sandstone, which splits into layers suitable for flagstones. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To furnish or deck out with flags. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. flagellans, p. p. of flagellare: cf.F. flagellant. See Flagellate. ] (Eccl. Hist.) One of a fanatical sect which flourished in Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries, and maintained that flagellation was of equal virtue with baptism and the sacrament; -- called also disciplinant. [ 1913 Webster ]