flay
to strip off the skin or outer covering of.
to criticize or scold with scathing severity.
to deprive or strip of money or property.
Origin of flay
1Other words for flay
| 2 | castigate, excoriate, upbraid, chew out |
Other words from flay
- flayer, noun
- un·flayed, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use flay in a sentence
Or you can mount a flayed rabbit to hang in your living room while a chef turns its innards into a nose-to-tail feast.
In the central panel, Sen. Elizabeth Warren whispers into the ear of the Pope as Mitt Romney and hedge fund managers are flayed.
Pope Francis Declares Consumers and Capitalists Need to Help the Poor | Daniel Gross | November 26, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTIn half an hour it came out, flayed and roasted, black oily skin peeled from both sides.
Look, when I left Brothers and Sisters, I felt as if I were flayed alive.
Woe to you if you fall into his clutches; before you come out of them you will be plucked, veritably flayed.
Friend Mac Donald | Max O'Rell
His lordship would not intervene; he swore he hoped the cub would be flayed alive by Wilding.
Mistress Wilding | Rafael SabatiniHow could a fellow of such insolent pretensions have escaped being flayed alive ere he reached the age he looked to be?
Tony Butler | Charles James LeverOtter was flayed, and Reidmar commanded the Æsir to fill the skin with gold, and cover it without that not a hair could be seen.
The Mysteries of All Nations | James GrantAfter the specimen had been flayed, the skin and a good supply of dogs' meat were hauled across and sledged home.
The Home of the Blizzard | Douglas Mawson
British Dictionary definitions for flay
/ (fleɪ) /
to strip off the skin or outer covering of, esp by whipping; skin
to attack with savage criticism
to strip of money or goods, esp by cheating or extortion
Origin of flay
1Derived forms of flay
- flayer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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