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flex

 [fleks]   Origin

flex

1   [fleks]
verb (used with object)
1.
to bend, as a part of the body: He flexed his arms to show off his muscles.
2.
to tighten (a muscle) by contraction.
verb (used without object)
3.
to bend.

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Flex is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
to run away hurriedly; flee.
to steal or take dishonestly (money, esp. public funds, or property entrusted to one's care); embezzle.
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noun
4.
the act of flexing.
5.
British.
a.
any flexible, insulated electric cord; an electric cord or extension cord.
b.
Slang. an elastic band, as a garter.
6.
Mathematics. an inflection point.
Origin:
1515–25; (adj.) < Latin flexus, past participle of flectere to bend, turn; (noun) < Latin flexus act of bending, equivalent to flect(ere) + -tus suffix of v. action
Dictionary.com Unabridged

flex

2   [fleks]
adjective
Informal. flexible: a flex program of workers' benefits.
Origin:
shortening of flexible

flex-

 
a combining form representing flexible in compound words: flextime.
Also, flexi-.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To flex
Collins
World English Dictionary
flex (flɛks)
 
—n
1.  (Brit) US and Canadian name: cord a flexible insulated electric cable, used esp to connect appliances to mains
2.  informal flexibility or pliability
 
—vb
3.  to bend or be bent: he flexed his arm; his arm flexed
4.  to contract (a muscle) or (of a muscle) to contract
5.  (intr) to work according to flexitime
6.  to test or display (one's authority or strength)
 
[C16: from Latin flexus bent, winding, from flectere to bend, bow]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

flex
1520s, probably a back formation from flexibility. Related: Flexed; flexing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

flex (flěks)
v. flexed, flex·ing, flex·es

  1. To bend.

  2. To contract a muscle.

  3. To move a joint so that the parts it connects approach each other.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
FOLDOC
Computing Dictionary

FLEX definition

language
1. Faster LEX.
2. A real-time language for dynamic environments.
["FLEX: Towards Flexible Real-Time Programs", K. Lin et al, Computer Langs 16(1):65-79, Jan 1991].
3. An early object-oriented language developed for the FLEX machine by Alan Kay in about 1967. The FLEX language was a simplification of Simula and a predecessor of Smalltalk.
(1995-03-29)

Flex definition

software, hardware
A system developed by Ian Currie (Iain?) at the (then) Royal Signals and Radar Establishment at Malvern in the late 1970s. The hardware was custom and microprogrammable, with an operating system, (modular) compiler, editor, garbage collector and filing system all written in Algol-68. Flex was also re-implemented on the Perq(?).
[I. F. Currie and others, "Flex Firmware", Technical Report, RSRE, Number 81009, 1981].
[I. F. Currie, "In Praise of Procedures", RSRE, 1982].
(1997-11-17)

The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing, © Denis Howe 2010 http://foldoc.org
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