Flay
Definition, Meaning & Examples
Pronunciation /fleɪ/ · Part of speech verb
Quick meaning: Flay is a verb meaning (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
Meaning
(transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
More Meanings
- (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To frighten; scare; terrify.
- (intransitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To be fear-stricken.
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A fright; a scare.
- (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking individual.
- To strip the skin off; to skin.
- To lash or whip.
Example Sentences
If they'd let me have my way, I could have flayed him into shape
The farmer flayed him as he had the bear, and so he had both bear-skin and fox-skin.
Word Forms
- flays
- flaying
- flayed
- fla
- flae
- flaid
- flain
Synonyms for flay
Depending on context, synonyms include fleece, flense, skin.
Related Words
Related dictionary entries include excoriate, beflay, beflake, befly, flinch, flee.
Related Dictionary Tools
Sources & Attribution
FreeDictionaryAPI.com / Wiktionary · Original source · CC BY-SA 4.0
Dictionary data is provided by FreeDictionaryAPI.com and sourced from Wiktionary under its stated license.