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flaw - 7 dictionary results
flaw
1 [flaw]
–noun
| 1. | a feature that mars the perfection of something; defect; fault: beauty without flaw; the flaws in our plan. |
| 2. | a defect impairing legal soundness or validity. |
| 3. | a crack, break, breach, or rent. |
–verb (used with object)
| 4. | to produce a flaw in. |
–verb (used without object)
| 5. | to contract a flaw; become cracked or defective. |
Origin:
1275–1325; ME flaw(e), flage, perh. < ON flaga sliver, flake
1275–1325; ME flaw(e), flage, perh. < ON flaga sliver, flake

Related forms:
flawless, adjective
flaw⋅less⋅ly, adverb
flaw⋅less⋅ness, noun
flaw
2 [flaw]
–noun
| 1. | Also called windflaw. a sudden, usually brief windstorm or gust of wind. |
| 2. | a short spell of rough weather. |
| 3. | Obsolete. a burst of feeling, fury, etc. |
Origin:
1475–85; < ON flaga attack, squall
1475–85; < ON flaga attack, squall

Related forms:
flawy, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Link To flaw
flaw 1 (flô) n.
To make or become defective. [Middle English flaue, splinter, perhaps 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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Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Flaw
Flaw\, n. [OE. flai, flaw flake; cf. Sw. flaga flaw, crack, breach, flake, D. vlaag gust of wind, Norw. flage, flaag, and E. flag a flat stone.]1. A crack or breach; a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion; as, a flaw in a knife or a vase. This heart Shall break into a hundered thousand flaws. --Shak. 2. A defect; a fault; as, a flaw in reputation; a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute. Has not this also its flaws and its dark side? --South. 3. A sudden burst of noise and disorder; a tumult; uproar; a quarrel. [Obs.] And deluges of armies from the town Came pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw. --Dryden. 4. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration. Snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw. --Milton. Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. --Tennyson. Syn: Blemish; fault; imperfection; spot; speck.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : flaw
Spanish:
defecto,
German:
der Fehler,
Japanese:
きず
flaw
c.1325, "snowflake, spark of fire," from O.N. flaga "stone slab, flake" (see flagstone); sense of "defect, fault" first recorded 1586, first of character, later (1604) of material things; probably via notion of a "fragment" broken off.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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