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flesh

 - 7 dictionary results

flesh

  [flesh]
Use flesh in a Sentence
–noun
1. the soft substance of a human or other animal body, consisting of muscle and fat.
2. muscular and fatty tissue.
3. this substance or tissue in animals, viewed as an article of food, usually excluding fish and sometimes fowl; meat.
4. fatness; weight.
5. the body, esp. as distinguished from the spirit or soul: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
6. the physical or animal nature of humankind as distinguished from its moral or spiritual nature: the needs of the flesh.
7. humankind.
8. living creatures generally.
9. a person's family or relatives.
10. Botany. the soft, pulpy portion of a fruit, vegetable, etc., as distinguished from the core, skin, shell, etc.
11. the surface of the human body; skin: A person with tender flesh should not expose it to direct sunlight.
12. flesh color.
–verb (used with object)
13. to plunge (a weapon) into the flesh.
14. Hunting. to feed (a hound or hawk) with flesh in order to make it more eager for the chase. Compare blood (def. 16).
15. to incite and accustom (persons) to bloodshed or battle by an initial experience.
16. to inflame the ardor or passions of by a foretaste.
17. to overlay or cover (a skeleton or skeletal frame) with flesh or with a fleshlike substance.
18. to give dimension, substance, or reality to (often fol. by out): The playwright fleshed out the characters.
19. to remove adhering flesh from (hides), in leather manufacture.
20. Archaic. to satiate with flesh or fleshly enjoyments; surfeit; glut.
—Idioms
21. in the flesh, present and alive before one's eyes; in person: The movie star looked quite different in the flesh.
22. pound of flesh, something that strict justice demands is due, but can only be paid with great loss or suffering to the payer.
23. press the flesh, Informal. to shake hands, as with voters while campaigning: The senator is busy as ever pressing the flesh on the campaign trail.
Origin:
bef. 900; ME flesc, OE flǣsc; c. OFris flēsk, OHG fleisk (G Fleisch), ON flesk bacon

Related forms:
fleshless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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flesh   (flěsh)   
n.  

    1. The soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate, covering the bones and consisting mainly of skeletal muscle and fat.

    2. The surface or skin of the human body.

    3. The body as opposed to the mind or soul.

    4. The physical or carnal nature of humankind.

    5. Sensual appetites.

  2. The meat of animals as distinguished from the edible tissue of fish or fowl.

  3. Botany The pulpy, usually edible part of a fruit or vegetable.

  4. Excess fatty tissue; plumpness.

    1. The body as opposed to the mind or soul.

    2. The physical or carnal nature of humankind.

    3. Sensual appetites.

  6. Humankind in general; humanity.

  7. One's family; kin.

  8. Substance; reality: "The maritime strategy has an all but unstoppable institutional momentum behind it . . . that has given force and flesh to the theory" (Jack Beatty).

v.   fleshed, flesh·ing, flesh·es

v.   tr.

  1. To give substance or detail to; fill out: fleshed out the novel with a subplot.

  2. To clean (a hide) of adhering flesh.

  3. To encourage (a falcon, for example) to participate in the chase by feeding it flesh from a kill.

  4. To inure to battle or bloodshed.

  5. To plunge or thrust (a weapon) into flesh.

v.   intr.
To become plump or fleshy; gain weight.

[Middle English, from Old English flǣsc.]
flesh'less adj.
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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Word Origin & History

flesh 
O.E. flæsc "flesh, meat," also "near kindred" (a sense now obsolete except in phrase flesh and blood), common W. and N.Gmc. (cf. O.Fris. flesk, M.L.G. vlees, Ger. Fleisch "flesh," O.N. flesk "pork, bacon"), of unknown origin, perhaps from P.Gmc. *flaiskoz-. Figurative use for "animal or physical nature of man" (O.E.), is from the Bible, especially Paul's use of Gk. sarx, which yielded sense of "sensual appetites" (c.1200). Fleshpot is lit. "pot in which flesh is boiled," hence "luxuries regarded with envy," especially in fleshpots of Egypt, from Exodus xvi.3:
"Whan we sat by ye Flesh pottes, and had bred ynough to eate." [Coverdale translation, 1535]
Flesh-wound is from 1674; flesh-color, the hue of "Caucasian" skin, is first recorded 1611, described as a tint composed of "a light pink with a little yellow" [O'Neill, "Dyeing," 1862]. Fleshy "plump" is from c.1369. An O.E. poetry-word for "body" was flæsc-hama, lit. "flesh-home."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

Main Entry: flesh
Pronunciation: 'flesh
Function: noun
: the soft parts of the body of an animal and especially of a vertebrate; especially : the parts composed chiefly of skeletal muscle as distinguished from visceral structures, bone, and integuments —see GOOSEBUMPS, PROUD FLESH —fleshed /'flesht/ adjective
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
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Medical Dictionary

flesh (flěsh)
n.
The soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate, covering the bones and consisting mainly of skeletal muscle and fat.

flesh'y adj.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Bible Dictionary

Flesh

in the Old Testament denotes (1) a particular part of the body of man and animals (Gen. 2:21; 41:2; Ps. 102:5, marg.); (2) the whole body (Ps. 16:9); (3) all living things having flesh, and particularly humanity as a whole (Gen. 6:12, 13); (4) mutability and weakness (2 Chr. 32:8; comp. Isa. 31:3; Ps. 78:39). As suggesting the idea of softness it is used in the expression "heart of flesh" (Ezek. 11:19). The expression "my flesh and bone" (Judg. 9:2; Isa. 58:7) denotes relationship. In the New Testament, besides these it is also used to denote the sinful element of human nature as opposed to the "Spirit" (Rom. 6:19; Matt. 16:17). Being "in the flesh" means being unrenewed (Rom. 7:5; 8:8, 9), and to live "according to the flesh" is to live and act sinfully (Rom. 8:4, 5, 7, 12). This word also denotes the human nature of Christ (John 1:14, "The Word was made flesh." Comp. also 1 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 1:3).

Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
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Idioms & Phrases

flesh

In addition to the idioms beginning with flesh, also see go the way of all flesh; in person (the flesh); make one's flesh creep; neither fish nor fowl (flesh); pound of flesh; press the flesh; spirit is willing but the flesh is weak; thorn in one's flesh.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
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