FLAG (flagged, flagging)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: flagged    , flagging   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does flag mean? 

• FLAG (noun)
  The noun FLAG has 7 senses:

1. emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design

2. 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.

3. plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals

4. a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device

5. flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green

6. stratified stone that splits into pieces suitable as paving stones

7. a conspicuously marked or shaped tail

  Familiarity information: FLAG used as a noun is common.

• FLAG (verb)
  The verb FLAG has 5 senses:

1. communicate or signal with a flag

2. provide with a flag

3. droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness

4. decorate with flags

5. become less intense

  Familiarity information: FLAG used as a verb is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• FLAG (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

emblem (special design or visual object representing a quality, type, group, etc.)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flag"):

pennant; pennon; streamer; waft (a long flag; often tapering)

ensign; national flag (an emblem flown as a symbol of nationality)

yellow jack (yellow flag hoist on a ship in quarantine)

flag of truce; white flag (flag consisting of a piece of white cloth that is hoisted to signal surrender or to ask for a truce)

Union flag; Union Jack (national flag of the United Kingdom)

tricolor; tricolour (a flag having three colored stripes (especially the French flag))

Confederate flag; Stars and Bars (the first flag of the Confederate States of America)

banner; standard (any distinctive flag)

jack (small flag indicating a ship's nationality)

fanion (a small flag used by surveyors or soldiers to mark a position)

colors; colours (a flag that shows its nationality)

black flag; blackjack; Jolly Roger; pirate flag (a flag usually bearing a white skull and crossbones on a black background; indicates a pirate ship)

battle flag (a flag that leads troops into battle)

banner; streamer (long strip of cloth or paper used for decoration or advertising)

American flag; Old Glory; Star-Spangled Banner; Stars and Stripes (the national flag of the United States of America)

Derivation:

flag (communicate or signal with a flag)

flag (decorate with flags)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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.

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

flag; masthead

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

list; listing (a database containing an ordered array of items (names or topics))

Sense 3

Meaning:

Plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting plants

Synonyms:

flag; fleur-de-lis; iris; sword lily

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

iridaceous plant (any bulbous plant of the family Iridaceae)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flag"):

bearded iris (any of numerous wild or cultivated irises with hairlike structures on the falls (the drooping sepals))

beardless iris (any of numerous wild or cultivated irises having no hairs on the drooping sepals (the falls))

bulbous iris (any of various irises having a rootstock formed like a bulb)

dwarf iris; Iris cristata (low-growing summer-flowering iris of northeastern United States)

gladdon; gladdon iris; Iris foetidissima; roast beef plant; stinking gladwyn; stinking iris (iris with purple flowers and foul-smelling leaves; southern and western Europe and North Africa)

Iris persica; Persian iris (bulbous iris native to Asia Minor cultivated for its pale lilac-colored flowers)

Iris pseudacorus; yellow flag; yellow iris; yellow water flag (common yellow-flowered iris of Europe and North Africa, naturalized in United States and often cultivated)

dwarf iris; Iris verna; vernal iris (low-growing spring-flowering American iris with bright blue-lilac flowers)

blue flag; Iris versicolor (a common iris of the eastern United States having blue or blue-violet flowers; root formerly used medicinally)

Iris virginica; southern blue flag (similar to blue flag; the eastern United States)

English iris; Iris xiphioides (bulbous iris native to the Pyrenees; widely cultivated for its large delicate flowers in various colors except yellow)

Holonyms ("flag" is a member of...):

genus Iris (large genus of perennials that develop from bulbs or rhizomes)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

flag; signal flag

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

visual signal (a signal that involves visual communication)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flag"):

pennant (a flag longer than it is wide (and often tapering))

red flag (a flag that serves as a warning signal)

code flag; nautical signal flag (one of an international code of flag signals used between ships)

Derivation:

flag (communicate or signal with a flag)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flag; pin

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

golf equipment (sports equipment used in playing golf)

Sense 6

Meaning:

Stratified stone that splits into pieces suitable as paving stones

Classified under:

Nouns denoting man-made objects

Synonyms:

flag; flagstone

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

paving stone (a stone used for paving)

Sense 7

Meaning:

A conspicuously marked or shaped tail

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("flag" is a kind of...):

tail (the posterior part of the body of a vertebrate especially when elongated and extending beyond the trunk or main part of the body)

Holonyms ("flag" is a part of...):

cervid; deer (distinguished from Bovidae by the male's having solid deciduous antlers)

Canis familiaris; dog; domestic dog (a member of the genus Canis (probably descended from the common wolf) that has been domesticated by man since prehistoric times; occurs in many breeds)

• FLAG (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they flag    ... he / she / it flags   
Past simple: flagged   
Past participle: flagged   
-ing form: flagging   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Communicate or signal with a flag

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "flag" is one way to...):

sign; signal; signalise; signalize (communicate silently and non-verbally by signals or signs)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s something

Also:

flag down (signal to stop)

Derivation:

flag (emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design)

flag (a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Provide with a flag

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

Flag this file so that I can recognize it immediately

Hypernyms (to "flag" is one way to...):

mark (make or leave a mark on)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 3

Meaning:

Droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

droop; flag; sag; swag

Hypernyms (to "flag" is one way to...):

drop; drop down; sink (fall or descend to a lower place or level)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "flag"):

slouch; slump (assume a drooping posture or carriage)

bag (hang loosely, like an empty bag)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Sense 4

Meaning:

Decorate with flags

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Context example:

the building was flagged for the holiday

Hypernyms (to "flag" is one way to...):

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

flag (emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Become less intense

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

ease off; ease up; flag; slacken off

Hypernyms (to "flag" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

 Context examples 

To protect yourself, recognize the red flags such as: • Miracle cure • Quick fix • Ancient remedy • Secret ingredient • Scientific breakthrough

(Health Fraud, Food and Drug Administration)

A flag indicating whether the protection group has a large number of protection elements.

(Large Element Count Flag, NCI Thesaurus)

But he had an eye on Tom's passage for all that, and as soon as all was over, came forward with another flag and reverently spread it on the body.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

ADSL is the primary source for subject-level variables included in other analysis datasets such as population flags and treatment variables.

(CDISC Subject Level Analysis Dataset, NCI Thesaurus)

Of various admirals I could tell you a great deal: of them and their flags, and the gradation of their pay, and their bickerings and jealousies.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Two steps to the west meant now that I was to go two paces down the stone-flagged passage, and this was the place indicated by the Ritual.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Several other men had dropped in, and the air was thick with tobacco smoke, when Brissenden waved the red flag.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

Households with at least one unvaccinated person were asked to place a red flag somewhere visible.

(Samoan government temporarily shuts down for nationwide measles vaccination drive, Wikinews)

Passing under a low door, and down a stone-flagged passage, they found themselves in a long narrow hall lit up by a pair of blazing torches, one at either end.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Even in little Friar’s Oak we had our flags flying bravely, and a candle in every window, with a big G.R. guttering in the wind over the door of the inn.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)