Flag

FLAG, sb.1 Var. dial. uses in Eng. In form vlag- Brks.1 [flag, flæg.] 1. A name given to var. plants (1) the yellow flag, Iris Pseudacorus; (2) the blue seggin, Iris foetidissima; (3) the leaves of the reed-mace, Typha latifolia; (4) a gen. term for iris, sword-grass, reeds, and other such waterside plants. (1) Yks. w.Yks. There's such a sight o' flags by t'river side (W.M.E.F.). Not., Lin., s.Bck., Dev.4 (2) Dev.4 (3) Hmp.1, I.W. (4) n.Lin.1, Shr.1, Oxf. (G.O.) 2. Comp. (1) Flag-basket, a basket made of river-side flags; (2) Flag-plant, the yellow flag, Iris Pseudacorus. (1) Not. (J.H.B.) Shr.1 I've bought satchels an' made bags fur school till I'm tired, an' now I'll get a flag-basket an' see if that 'll las' 'em. Oxf.1 In which men carry their dinners to the fields, MS. add. Brks.1 Used for conveying fish, &c. (2) Lin. (B. & H.) 3. A leaf; a blade of wheat. Midl. Uncle's corn was an utter failure that year ─ just a mass of half-rotten straw and ‘flag,’ Bartram People of Clopton (1897) 80. War.3 The broad blade or leaf at the base of the stalk of any kind of white straw crops. It is most conspicuous in crops which have been ‘laid’ early in the season. Bdf. The growth of the thin corns shewed an evident inferiority both in the length of the stalk and broadness of the flag, Batchelor Agric. (1813) 371. Hrt. The oat has a strong large stalk and ear, also a broad flag, Ellis Mod. Husb. (1750) II. i. Wil.1 The wheat was then showing a beautiful flag. ... The flag is the long narrow green leaf of the wheat, Jefferies Gt. Estate (1880) i. Hence Flaggy, adj. applied to corn that grows so luxuriantly that the blade is large and thick. Nhp.1 Nhp.2

FLAG, sb.2 and v.1 Var. dial. uses in Sc. Irel. and Eng. Also in forms flack Lakel.1 Lakel.2 Cum.1 Nrf.; flak Cum.1; fleg w.Yks. [flag, flæg, fleg, Cum. flak.] 1. sb. A piece cut out of or pared off the sward; a turf, sod. s.Sc. A large sod, put at the back of the fire, is called a flag (Jam.). N.Cy.1 Formerly used for thatch. Nhb.1, Lakel.1 Lakel.2 Cum.1 Used to cover the ends of thatched houses, and in covering up potatoe pits, and as a top covering for common dry walls; Cum.2 n.Yks. In spring, grass will unavoidably grow on the edges of the flag or sod, Tuke Agric. (1800) 145. e.An.1 A portion of the surface of heathy land turned up by the spade, and heaped to dry for fuel. Nrf. A ‘flagg’ is the top spit of a marshy meadow; a ‘turf’ is cut down after the ‘flagg’ is skinned off, Rye Hist. Nrf. (1885) xv; (A.G.F.); The grass is very bad there; just cut out a few fresh flags and put them down (W.R.E.); Grose (1790). Marshall Rur. Econ. (1787); Kennett Par. Antiq. (1695); Ray (1691); Coles (1677). Suf. Rainbird Agric. (1819) 292, ed. 1849; Cullum Hist. Hawsted (1813); Suf.1, e.Suf. (F.H.) s.Cy. Bailey (1721). Hmp. Harrowing before burning shakes much earth from the flags, Young Annals Agric. (1784-1815) XXIII. 357; Hmp.1 Hence (1) Flacker, sb. a person who cuts and spreads turfs or ‘flacks.’ Lakel.1 Lakel.2; (2) Flagging, vbl. sb. the act of covering an embankment grass-plot with sods. ne.Lan.1 2. A turned furrow, a slice of earth turned back; the portion of clover land turned once by the plough. Yks. The dibbler... makes two holes in each flag, at the distance of three inches the lengthway of the flag, Hunter Georgical Ess. (1803) II. 355, in N. & Q. (1887) 7th S. iv. 22. e.An.1 The surface of a clover lay of the second year, turned up by the plough. The wheat for the next year's crop is dibbled into the flag. e.Nrf. The flag ─ the provincial term for the furrow turned ─ is always turned toward the unplowed ground, Marshall Rur. Econ. (1787) I. 142. Suf. The flag, as the furrow slice is called, Reports Agric. (1793-1813) 25; Rainbird Agric. (1819) 292, ed. 1849; Suf.1 ‘One hole on a flag,’ means one row of holes dabbled or dibbled on each of such portions for dropping the seed wheat into. ‘Two holes on a flag’ are also common. e.Suf. Dibble beans one row on each flag, Young Annals Agric. (1784-1815) XXIII. 27. 3. A flat slab of stone or hard material; a flag-stone; pl. the side-pavements or footways of a street so paved. Frf. A bundle o' strae kept his heid frae the flags, Watt Poet. Sketches (1880) 55. Ayr. Their hauns soon cam to an iron ring that was rivetted in a flag, Service Dr. Duguid (ed. 1887) 259. Nhb.1 A flake of sandstone used as a roofing tile; sometimes called a ‘Northumberland flag.’ ‘The flags’ is the common name for the side-walk of a street when paved with flat stones. n.Yks.1, e.Yks.1 w.Yks. T'rooads an't flegs, Yks. Comet (1844) 52; That roag wur nivver t'man To fotch a coil, ur scar a fleg, Preston Poems (1864) 6. Lan. P'rambilater behanged!... I never see one but I could like to punce it off th' flags, Brierley Out of Work, i. Not.1 It's easier walking on t'flags. Lin.1, n.Lin.1 4. Comp. (1) Flag-hopping, street-walking; (2) Flag-post, sandstone suitable for splitting into flags for the pavement or for roof-tiles. (1) w.Ir. How do I know that, you flaghoppin' jade? Lover Leg. (1848) I. 199. (2) Nhb.1 5. Salt-mining term: a very hard kind of marl found near the first bed of rock-salt. Chs. A shaft is sunk until the ‘flag’ or ‘bean metal’ has been pierced, and the brine is tapped, Cornh. Mag. (Sept. 1892) 263; Chs.1 6. v. To pave with ‘flags.’ w.Yks. All't rooads abaht here is fleg'd, Banks Wkfld. Wds. (1865). n.Lin.1 Hence (1) Flagging, sb. pavement laid with flag-stones; (2) Fleggers, sb. pl. workmen who put down slabs of stone for pavements. (1) War.3 Walk on the flagging, it is cleaner than in the road. (2) w.Yks.5 T'next thing he did wur to get t'Highway Surveyors to send t'fleggers an' pāavers i' front o' his residence, 163. [1. Flagge of be erthe, Terricidium, Prompt. ON. flag, the spot where a turf has been cut out (Vigfusson).]

FLAG, sb.3 and v.2 Sc. Nhb. Yks. [flag.] 1. sb. A flake, esp. a flake of snow. Cai.1 ne.Sc. When snow is falling in flakes (‘flags’) the saying is that the folks in Orkney are plucking geese, Gregor Flk-Lore (1881) 154. Mry. (Jam.) n.Cy. Grose (1790). Nhb.1 What big flags is comin' doon. n.Yks.1 n.Yks.2 ne.Yks.1 It snew i' girt flags. e.Yks. Marshall Rur. Econ. (1788). m.Yks.1, w.Yks.1 2. v. To snow in flakes. Bnff.1 It flaggit on a' day, yesterday, an' the day afore. [1. Cp. Dan. snee-flage, flake of snow.]

FLAG, sb.4 Sc. A contemptuous term for a woman, a slut. Abd. Win up, win up my ae foul flag, Child Ballads (1894) V. 213.

FLAG, sb.5 Lon. Nrf. [flæg.] An apron. Lon. Mayhew Lond. Labour (1851) I. 218. Nrf. (W.W.S.)

FLAG, sb.6 Lon. Cant. [flæg.] Fourpence. Lon. The orator pulled out a tremendous black doll, bought for a ‘flag’ (fourpence) of a retired rag-merchant, Mayhew Lond. Labour (1851) I. 251. Cant Coles (1677); Life B. M. Carew (1791) Gl.

FLAG, v.3 Sc. Yks. Chs. Lin. War. Shr. Also Som. Dev. Also in forms fleg w.Yks.5; vlag w.Som.1 n.Dev. [flag, flæg, w.Yks. fleg, w.Cy. vlæg.] To grow weary; to droop, fade. Sc. (A.W.) w.Yks.5 ‘What! flegging on't benow!’ ─ weary by this time! ‘Reckons o' wawaking all t'twenty mile, ─ am telling him he'll fleg, afoar he's gotten t'horf ower.’ Chs.1 n.Lin. Them plants you rem'led is flagg'd wi' th' sun on 'em (M.P.). War.3 You must water those young plants, they are all flagging. Shr.1 If yo' lāven them flowers i' the sun they'n flag. Hence (1) Flagged, adj. flabby, limp, loose, flaccid; (2) Flagging, prp. flapping, waving; (3) Flaggy, adj., see Flagged. (1) w.Som.1 n.Dev. Thy skin oll vlagged, Exm. Scold. (1746) l. 74. (2) Dev. (Hall.) (3) w.Som.1 Vlag·ee. nw.Dev.1 [(3) s'Afflaquir, to wax flaggy, limber, feeble, COTGR.]