flag

¹ American  

[flag] / flæg /

noun

1. 

   a piece of cloth, varying in size, shape, color, and design, usually attached at one edge to a staff or cord, and used as the symbol of a nation, state, or organization, as a means of signaling, etc.; ensign; standard; banner; pennant.

2. Ornithology. the tuft of long feathers on the legs of falcons and most hawks; the lengthened feathers on the crus or tibia.

3. Hunting. the tail of a deer or of a setter dog.

4. Journalism.

   1. the nameplate of a newspaper.

   2. masthead.

   3. the name of a newspaper as printed on the editorial page.

5. a tab or tag attached to a page, file card, etc., to mark it for attention.

6. Music. hook.

7. Movies, Television. a small gobo.

8. Usually flags the ends of the bristles of a brush, especially a paintbrush, when split.

9. Computers. a symbol, value, or other means of identifying data of interest, or of informing later parts of a program what conditions earlier parts have encountered.

---

verb (used with object)

flagged, flagging

1. to place a flag or flags over or on; decorate with flags.

2. to signal or warn (a person, automobile, etc.) with or as if with a flag (sometimes followed bydown ).

   to flag a taxi; to flag down a passing car.

3. to communicate (information) by or as if by a flag.

4. to decoy, as game, by waving a flag or the like to excite attention or curiosity.

5. to mark (a page in a book, file card, etc.) for attention, as by attaching protruding tabs.

6. (of a brush) to split the ends of the bristles.

idioms

1. strike the flag, Also strike one's flag.

   1. to relinquish command, as of a ship.

   2. to submit or surrender.

      His financial situation is growing worse, but he's not ready to strike the flag.

flag ² American  

[flag] / flæg /

noun

1. any of various plants with long, sword-shaped leaves, as the sweet flag.

2. blue flag.

3. the long, slender leaf of such a plant or of a cereal.

---

flag ³ American  

[flag] / flæg /

verb (used without object)

flagged, flagging

1. to fall off in vigor, energy, activity, interest, etc..

   Public enthusiasm flagged when the team kept losing.

   Synonyms:

   wane, sag, slump, wilt, dwindle

2. to hang loosely or limply; droop.

---

flag ⁴ American  

[flag] / flæg /

noun

1. flagstone.

2. flags, flagstone.

---

verb (used with object)

flagged, flagging

1. to pave with flagstones.

flag ¹ British  

/ flæɡ /

noun

1. a piece of cloth, esp bunting, often attached to a pole or staff, decorated with a design and used as an emblem, symbol, or standard or as a means of signalling

2. a small paper flag, emblem, or sticker sold on flag days

3. computing an indicator, that may be set or unset, used to indicate a condition or to stimulate a particular reaction in the execution of a computer program

4. informal short for flag officer flagship

5. journalism another name for masthead

6. the fringe of long hair, tapering towards the tip, on the underside of the tail of certain breeds of dog, such as setters

7. the conspicuously marked tail of a deer

8. a less common name for bookmark

9. the part of a taximeter that is raised when a taxi is for hire

10. the pennant-shaped pattern that is formed when a price fluctuation is plotted on a chart, interrupting the steady rise or fall that precedes and then follows it

11. (in Victoria, Australia) the Australian Rules premiership

12. to represent or show support for one's country, an organization, etc

13. 1. to assert a claim, as to a territory or stretch of water, by military presence

    2. informal to be present; make an appearance

14. 1. to relinquish command, esp of a ship

    2. to submit or surrender

---

verb

1. to decorate or mark with a flag or flags

2. (often foll by down) to warn or signal (a vehicle) to stop

3. to send or communicate (messages, information, etc) by flag

4. to decoy (game or wild animals) by waving a flag or similar object so as to attract their attention

5. to mark (a page in a book, card, etc) for attention by attaching a small tab or flag

6. to draw attention to (something)

7. to consider unimportant; brush aside

flag ² British  

/ flæɡ /

verb

1. to hang down; become limp; droop

2. to decline in strength or vigour; become weak or tired

---

flag ³ British  

/ flæɡ /

noun

1. any of various plants that have long swordlike leaves, esp the iris Iris pseudacorus ( yellow flag )

2. the leaf of any such plant

---

flag ⁴ British  

/ flæɡ /

noun

1. short for flagstone

---

verb

1. (tr) to furnish (a floor) with flagstones

Other Word Forms

• flagger
  noun
• flagless
  adjective

---

Etymology

Origin of flag¹

First recorded in 1475–85; perhaps blend of flap (noun) and fag ² (noun) in obsolete sense “flap”

Origin of flag²

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English flagge

Origin of flag³

First recorded in 1535–45; perhaps blend of of flap (verb) and fag ² (verb) in obsolete sense “to droop”. See flag ¹

Origin of flag⁴

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English flagge “piece of sod”; akin to Old Norse flaga “slab”

---

Explanation

A flag is a piece of cloth that represents a country, group, or institution. If you're particularly proud of your Irish heritage, you might fly an Irish flag in your front yard. A real flag enthusiast might fly the American flag, their state flag, their city's flag, and the flag of their parents' birth countries. There are also flags used for signaling on ships at sea and during races and sporting events, and flags that represent armies or advertise products. When flag is used as a verb, it means "to lose energy or enthusiasm." When students start to flag in the afternoon, they tend to take a quick nap — sitting up at their desks.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

flag flagged flagging

This time around, the band sent them an official “The Black Parade” flag, following its first night at the Bowl, that they now have on display at the church as one of the photo-ops.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 27, 2026

If I’m being honest, the estrangement raised a red flag.

From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026

Beverly Hills is heavily Jewish, and the board is entirely so, but many residents argued public schools shouldn’t display another country’s flag, and worried it would favor one group over another.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026

Another photo showed the former English teacher, who is in his 70s, posing with unidentified people on a small plane, holding up an American flag with two members of the group.

From Barron's ● Oct. 22, 2026

Atop the flag lay his Navy sword with a mysterious floral wreath, “To the Memory of Dr. E. K. Kane, from Two Ladies.”

From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock

In submitting its plans to list its shares, Anthropic, one of the world's leading artificial intelligence companies, reported first-half revenue surged about 1,300 percent year-on-year, but also flagged safety risks.

From Barron's ● Oct. 27, 2026

Samuel has defended the video in which he flagged Harish's lack of credentials saying he was acting in the consumer interest.

From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026

But the letters included allegations alone, no evidence or data verifying DHS’s claims, which Weber said she flagged and asked to see, to no avail.

From Slate ● Oct. 22, 2026

He also flagged that his book “Behind the Castle Walls” might be controversial.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 20, 2026

Interpol, the international police organization, had him flagged to be arrested at any one of 368 airports throughout the world.

From "Endgame" by Frank Brady

SpaceX and Super Micro Computer help revive Wall Street’s flagging enthusiasm, with more key earnings on tap.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026

Tanden has finished up her marathon day with an appearance on CNN; she sparred with Scott Jennings about Donald Trump’s flagging poll numbers.

From Slate ● Oct. 15, 2026

He ticked through a laundry list of Florida constituents – retirees, teachers, emergency workers, restaurant staff and local government employees, flagging that they need to be able to "make ends meet".

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Friday’s strong showing for stocks has helped to revive some of investors’ flagging optimism, hinting at further gains ahead in the fourth quarter, said Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 4, 2026

This time I'll make sure, I thought, stepping out and flagging the bus and getting on.

From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

• abate
• deteriorate
• ebb
• fade
• languish
• sag
• wane

---