flagging
1 Americannoun
-
flagstones collectively.
-
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.
Perhaps more importantly, it is reacting to a broadening AI processor market, flagging $20 billion in revenue from central-processing unit sales this year, adding to its core graphics-processing units.
From Barron's • May 21, 2026
Big banks have already been acquiescing to Musk’s unusual demands, including paying up front for Grok subscriptions, thus juicing SpaceX’s flagging A.I. revenue.
From Slate • May 15, 2026
The audio showed that a number of other possible fouls had been considered, including Leandro Trossard on Pablo, with the VAR team flagging them to the referee.
From BBC • May 12, 2026
Techniques such as “receiver operating characteristic curve analysis” examine how changing the threshold for an alert alters the balance between correctly identifying real events and mistakenly flagging harmless ones.
From Salon • May 12, 2026
It might be different if he were flagging down a passing car or trying to phone for help, but typing, in and of itself, is not an inherently dramatic activity.
From "Me Talk Pretty One Day" by David Sedaris
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.
