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. 2024
How to use flay in a sentence
The Chicago Tribune took every chance to flay Truman, as The Wall Street Journal daily flays Obama.
He leaves us no illusions, and not only strips his subject, but flays it and shows the raw muscles beneath the skin.
From Chaucer to Tennyson | Henry A. BeersOn the other hand, he who flays Marsias alive and visits the earth with plagues is also the healer of men.
Among Famous Books | John KelmanSunshine and rain bring cuckoos from Spain, But the first cock of hay flays the cuckoo away.
Rhymes Old and New | M.E.S. WrightThe ship cat and her kitten now appear and get about their toilets; next the barber comes and flays us on the breezy deck.
Following the Equator, Complete | Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens)
Now their struggle is of the sharpest, but the end of it is, that he flays off the whole of the strip along the back to the loins.
The Story of Grettir The Strong | Translated by Eirikr Magnusson and William Morris
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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