26984 words

flags

19 definitions • 29 examples
1
a piece of cloth, usually rectangular and attached to a pole at one edge, that has a pattern that shows it represents a country or a group, or has a particular meaning:

Examples:

flag flies Flags of all the participating countries are flying outside the stadium.
fly a flag The palace flies a flag when the king is in residence.
Flags were flapping/fluttering in the breeze.
wave a flag The guard waved his flag and the train pulled away from the station.
raise a flag Some of the soldiers set up the tents and raised their national flag.
2
in American football, a yellow piece of cloth thrown on to the playing area by one of the officials when a player has broken the rules:

Examples:

A flag was down but it was unclear why.
The coach was furious that no flag had been thrown on the play.
3
a sign of something, especially that something worrying or bad could be happening:

Examples:

raise a flag One of the students mentioned having problems at home, but not in a way that raised a flag with me (= made me worry that something bad was happening).
While this decline may not be statistically significant, it is nonetheless a flag and it does concern us.
4
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5
a flower that is a type of large iris
6
to put a mark on something so it can be found easily among other similar things:

Examples:

Flag any files that might be useful later.
7
to mark computer information with one of two possible values so that you can deal with it later:

Examples:

We'll flag the records of interest in the database and then we can give you a print-out.
8
to warn or tell people about something that is important or is a problem:

Examples:

I'd just like to flag a couple of issues with the project.
The inspection team flagged a potential groundwater pollution problem.
flag something up A laboratory test might have flagged up the potential dangers at a much earlier stage.
9

Examples:

I was starting to flag after the ninth mile.
10
If a sports official flags, or flags a player, they lift a flag to signal that a player has broken one of the rules:

Examples:

flag for The referee's assistant flagged for a free kick on the edge of the area.
The striker had already been flagged offside before the shot had left his boot.
11
a piece of cloth with a special color and pattern, used as a symbol esp. to represent a particular country or group:

Examples:

The man waved a red warning flag.
12
to mark something so it can be found easily among other similar things:

Examples:

She asked me to flag the names that appear on both lists.
13

Examples:

My interest in the story flagged.
14
to put a mark on something or against something so it can be found easily among other similar things:

Examples:

Flag any files which might be useful later.
15
to mark computer information with one of two possible values so that you can process it later:

Examples:

We'll flag the records of interest in the database and then we can give you a printout.
16

Examples:

We had been working on the presentation for six hours and I was beginning to flag.
They denied that demand for the new product was flagging.
17
a piece of cloth, usually rectangular and fixed to a pole at one edge, that has a pattern that shows it represents a country or a group, or has a particular meaning:

Examples:

18
a mark that you put on or against something to show that it is important:

Examples:

You can put a flag on any email message that you know you will need to go back to and read again.
19
to show support for the country, group, or organization that you belong to:

Examples:

The government was accused of failing to fly the flag for British farmers at the negotiations.

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