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.

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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.

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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.

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flag ⁴ American  

[flag] / flæg /

noun

1. flagstone.

2. flags, flagstone.

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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

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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

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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

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flag ⁴ British  

/ flæɡ /

noun

1. short for flagstone

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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

A topsy-turvy race started amid chaos as Max Verstappen crashed his Red Bull at high speed on a damp track at the end of the first lap, leading to a red flag.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

JSerra has pulled it off in girls’ flag football.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Trump, 80, is expected to take a ceremonial lap of honor in his armored limousine dubbed "The Beast" and then wave the green flag to start the race.

From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026

Ode engineers are now helping Chamberlain test software that can learn a family’s routines, like when they arrive home every day, and flag deviations to the homeowner.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

The expedition's main object, explained in the fund-raising brochure, was “to cross the Antarctic from sea to sea, securing for the British flag the honor of being the first carried across the South Polar Continent.”

From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong

The US president's envoy and son-in-law Jared Kushner this week flagged "very positive and active conversations".

From Barron's ● Aug. 19, 2026

On the earnings call, Cerebras flagged that it was continuing to work on scaling wafer supply, manufacturing capacity and data-center capacity.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026

Earlier this month, Pangram flagged a small passage from a draft I had submitted to an editor at one of the other publications where I freelance.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

"They came over and said I had to leave. The staff member said I'd been identified by the AI, and the cameras had flagged me," he told BBC London.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 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

Shein, its main competitor in the fast-fashion industry, has been facing regulatory headwinds in the U.S. and the EU and has also struggled with flagging sales.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

“Ballmer was the perfect deep-pocket partner to fund Catona’s flagging operations and lend legitimacy to Catona’s carbon credit business,” says the amended complaint viewed by The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

Her efforts led the antivirus software Kaspersky to begin flagging the tools known as stalkerware as a privacy threat to its customers instead of labeling it as benign.

From Salon ● Aug. 17, 2026

There’s little doubt that that reports of Situational Awareness getting blown out have helped revive investors’ confidence in the flagging AI trade, according to Michael O’Rourke, chief market strategist at Jones Trading.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 30, 2026

With his flagging strength, he fought to raise the blade again.

From "The Book of Three" by Lloyd Alexander

Related Words

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