flagging
1 Americannoun
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flagstones collectively.
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a pavement or walk of flagstones.
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of flagging1
First recorded in 1535–45; flag 3 + -ing 2
Origin of flagging2
Explanation
If something is flagging, it's worn out or weak. A flagging political campaign is running out of steam, losing the energy it needs to be successful. If your career is flagging, it's languishing or fading — you might need to go back to school and start a new one. Flagging public support for a new school might spell the end of the project. A different kind of flagging is the sort you walk on. If your patio is made of flagging, it's paved in stones — flagstones, to be specific. The "weakened" meaning of flagging comes from an early meaning of flag, "to flap about loosely."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
However, while UBS’s index is flagging extreme market vulnerability, the strategists warn that the catalyst is not certain and that they first need to determine what it will or will not be.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Analysts also questioned whether Walmart's income could continue to grow despite flagging sales.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 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
They were flagging in the rays of the bright sun, winter sun shining in a pale cool sky though it was; their heads were down and their tongues lolling out.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
