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Flaw
Definitions
- 1 A flake, fragment, or shiver. obsolete
- 2 A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
"And snow and haile and stormie gust and flaw"
- 3 an imperfection in a plan or theory or legal document that causes it to fail or that reduces its effectiveness wordnet
- 4 A thin cake, as of ice. obsolete
- 5 A storm of short duration.
Show 7 more definitions
- 6 defect or weakness in a person's character wordnet
- 7 A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
"There is a flaw in that knife."
- 8 A sudden burst of noise and disorder
"And deluges of armies from the town / Come pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw."
- 9 an imperfection in an object or machine wordnet
- 10 A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
"Has not this also its flaws and its dark side?"
- 11 A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.; An inclusion, stain, or other defect of a diamond or other gemstone.
- 12 A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.; A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.
"a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute"
- 1 To add a flaw to, to make imperfect or defective. transitive
- 2 add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective wordnet
- 3 To become imperfect or defective; to crack or break. intransitive
Etymology
From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).
From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh (“a fragment, piece”).
From Middle English *flaugh, from Middle Dutch vlāghe or Middle Low German vlāge, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *flagā. Or, possibly of North Germanic origin, from Swedish flaga (“gust of wind”), from Old Norse flaga; all from Proto-Germanic *flagǭ (“blow, strike”). See modern Dutch vlaag (“gust of wind”).
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