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flag

 - 18 dictionary results

flag

1[flag] noun, verb, flagged, flag⋅ging.
–noun
1. a piece of cloth, varying in size, shape, color, and design, usually attached at one edge to a staff or cord, and used as the symbol of a nation, state, or organization, as a means of signaling, etc.; ensign; standard; banner; pennant.
2. Ornithology. the tuft of long feathers on the legs of falcons and most hawks; the lengthened feathers on the crus or tibia.
3. Hunting. the tail of a deer or of a setter dog.
4. Journalism.
a. the nameplate of a newspaper.
b. masthead (def. 1).
c. the name of a newspaper as printed on the editorial page.
5. a tab or tag attached to a page, file card, etc., to mark it for attention.
6. Music. hook (def. 12a).
7. Movies, Television. a small gobo.
8. Usually, flags. the ends of the bristles of a brush, esp. a paintbrush, when split.
9. Computers. a symbol, value, or other means of identifying data of interest, or of informing later parts of a program what conditions earlier parts have encountered.
–verb (used with object)
10. to place a flag or flags over or on; decorate with flags.
11. to signal or warn (a person, automobile, etc.) with or as if with a flag (sometimes fol. by down): to flag a taxi; to flag down a passing car.
12. to communicate (information) by or as if by a flag.
13. to decoy, as game, by waving a flag or the like to excite attention or curiosity.
14. to mark (a page in a book, file card, etc.) for attention, as by attaching protruding tabs.
15. (of a brush) to split the ends of the bristles.
16. strike the flag,
a. to relinquish command, as of a ship.
b. to submit or surrender: His financial situation is growing worse, but he's not ready to strike the flag.
Also, strike one's flag.

Origin:
1475–85; perh. b. flap (n.) and fag 1 (n.) in obs. sense “flap”


flagger, noun
flagless, adjective

flag

2[flag]
–noun
1. any of various plants with long, sword-shaped leaves, as the sweet flag.
2. blue flag.
3. the long, slender leaf of such a plant or of a cereal.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME flagge

flag

3[flag]
–verb (used without object), flagged, flag⋅ging.
1. to fall off in vigor, energy, activity, interest, etc.: Public enthusiasm flagged when the team kept losing.
2. to hang loosely or limply; droop.

Origin:
1535–45; perh. b. of flap (v.) and fag 1 (v.) in obs. sense “to droop”. See flag 1


1. dwindle, wilt, slump, sag, wane.

flag

4[flag] noun, verb, flagged, flag⋅ging.
–noun
1. flagstone (def. 1).
2. flags, flagstone (def. 2).
–verb (used with object)
3. to pave with flagstones.

Origin:
1400–50; late ME flagge piece of sod; akin to ON flaga slab


flagger, noun

flag⋅stone

[flag-stohn]
–noun
1. Also called flag. a flat stone slab used esp. for paving.
2. flagstones, a walk, terrace, etc., paved with flagstones.
3. rock, as sandstone or shale, suitable for splitting into flagstones.

Origin:
1720–30; flag 4 + stone

mast⋅head

[mast-hed, mahst-]
–noun
1. Also called flag. a statement printed in all issues of a newspaper, magazine, or the like, usually on the editorial page, giving the publication's name, the names of the owner and staff, etc.
2. Also called nameplate. a line of type on the front page of a newspaper or the cover of a periodical giving the name of the publication.
3. Nautical.
a. the head of a mast.
b. the uppermost point of a mast.
–verb (used with object) Nautical.
4. to hoist a yard to the fullest extent.
5. to hoist to the truck of a mast, as a flag.
6. to send to the upper end of a mast as a punishment.
–adjective
7. Nautical. run up to the head of a mast: masthead rig.

Origin:
1740–50; mast 1 + head
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flag
flag 1   (flāg)   
n.  
  1. A piece of cloth, usually rectangular, of distinctive color and design, used as a symbol, standard, signal, or emblem.

  2. National or other allegiance, as symbolized by a flag: ships of the same flag.

  3. A ship carrying the flag of an admiral; a flagship.

  4. A marking device, such as a gummed strip of paper, attached to an object to attract attention or ease identification; a tab.

  5. The masthead of a newspaper.

  6. Music A cross stroke that halves the value of a note to which it is added.

  7. A distinctively shaped or marked tail, as of a dog or deer.

  8. Computer Science A variable or memory location that stores true-or-false, yes-or-no information.

tr.v.   flagged, flag·ging, flags
  1. To mark with a flag or flags for identification or ornamentation: flag a parade route; flagging parts of a manuscript for later review.

    1. To signal with or as if with a flag.

    2. To signal to stop: flag down a passing car.


[Origin unknown.]
flag'ger n.
flag 2   (flāg)   
n.  A plant, such as an iris or cattail, that has long sword-shaped leaves.

[Middle English flagge, reed, of Scandinavian origin.]
flag 3   (flāg)   
intr.v.   flagged, flag·ging, flags
  1. To hang limply; droop.

  2. To decline in vigor or strength: The conversation flagged.


[Possibly of Scandinavian origin; akin to Old Norse flögra, to flap about.]
flag 4   (flāg)   
n.  A flagstone.
tr.v.   flagged, flag·ging, flags
To pave with slabs of flagstone.

[Middle English flagge, piece of turf, from Old Norse flaga, slab of stone; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
flag

  1. tv.
    to fail a course. : Pat flagged English again.
  2. n.
    the grade of F. : I'll get a flag on algebra for the semester.
  3. tv.
    to arrest someone. (See also flagged.) : They flagged Bob for speeding even though he was a judge.
  4. n.
    a headcloth or bandana, especially one that shows gang identity. (Streets.) : The kid wore a “flag” that alerted the officers to the fact that he was a gang member.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

flag  (n.)
"cloth ensign," c.1480, now in all modern Gmc. languages, but apparently first recorded in Eng., origin unknown, but likely connected with flag (v.) or else, like it, onomatopoeic. A less likely guess is that it is from the flag in flagstone (q.v.) on notion of being square and flat. Flagship is 1672, ship bearing an admiral's flag. U.S. Flag Day (1894) is in reference to the adopting of the Stars and Stripes by the Continental Congress on June 14, 1777.

flag  (v.)
1545, "flap about loosely," perhaps a variant of M.E. flakken, flacken "to flap, flutter," probably from O.N. flakka "to flicker, flutter," perhaps onomatopoeic of something flapping in the wind. Sense of "go limp, droop" is first recorded 1611. Meaning "to designate as someone who will not be served more liquor" is from 1980s, probably from use of flags to signal trains, etc., to halt, which led to the verb in this sense (1856).

flagstone 
1730, from flag "flat, split stone" (1604), earlier "piece cut from sod" (1415), from O.N. flaga "stone slab," of unknown origin, perhaps related to O.N. flak (see flake).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Financial Dictionary

Flag

A technical charting pattern that looks like a flag with a mast on either side. Flags result from price fluctuations within a narrow range and mark a consolidation before the previous move resumes. Likewise, "pennant" formations are usually treated like flag formations because they are very similar in appearance, tend to show up at the same place in an existing trend, and have the same volume and measuring criteria.

Investopedia Commentary

Flags and pennants are among the most reliable of continuation patterns and only rarely produce a trend reversal. The only difference between the two patterns is that a flag resembles a parallelogram (or rectangle) marked by two parallel trend lines that tend to slope against the prevailing trend. The pennant, however, is identified by two converging trend lines and more horizontal which resembles a small symmetrical triangle. The important thing to remember is that they are both characterized by diminishing trade volume and though different, the measuring implications are the same for both patterns as demonstrated in the above illustration.

Related Links

Continuation Patterns - Part 1
Continuation Patterns - Part 2
Continuation Patterns - Part 3
Triangles: A Short Study in Continuation Patterns

See also: Pennant, Technical Analysis, Triangle, Wedge

Investopedia.com. Copyright © 1999-2005 - All rights reserved. Owned and Operated by Investopedia Inc.
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Financial Dictionary

flag

See triangle.

Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms by David L. Scott.
Copyright © 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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Computing Dictionary

flag
1. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done. "This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing the message." "The program status word contains several flag bits." See also hidden flag, mode bit.
2. command line option.
[The Jargon File]
(1998-05-02)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © 1993-2007 Denis Howe
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Bible Dictionary

Flag

(Heb., or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Gen. 41:2, 18; probably the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nile reed. It also grows in Palestine. In Ex. 2:3, 5, Isa. 19:6, it is the rendering of the Hebrew _suph_, a word which occurs frequently in connection with _yam_; as _yam suph_, to denote the "Red Sea" (q.v.) or the sea of weeds (as this word is rendered, Jonah 2:5). It denotes some kind of sedge or reed which grows in marshy places. (See PAPER ØT0002840, REED.)

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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