/flag/

 

/flag/

 

Verb. 

 

-) Pronunciation: flæg.  

 

-) Etymology: of uncertain origin. Walter Skeat stated: “weakened from the form flack, [obsolete verb for to hang loosely]”.

 

-) Preterite tense: flagged. Preterite participle: flagged.

 

-) Present participle: flagging.

 

-) It is dated from the end of 1300.

Intransitively: 1. (Of a textile fabric) to undergo a droop; to become limp or unstiffened while hanging; to hang without stiffness.

 

-) Synonyms for flag: to bend down, droop, collapse.

 

-) Translation: perdre de sa vigueur, in French; perder el vigor, in Spanish; perdere la sua forza, in Italian.

[…] all at once, the breeze slackened, our course was arrested, our sails flagged, and here we are, helplessly afloat, waiting for a fresh tide.

Sarah Burney… Traits of nature 1812

2. (Of a plant) to become limp; to have or undergo a bent posture, or inclination or fall, from want of nourishment, deficiency of moisture, or the like; to lose freshness and vigor.

 

-) Synonyms: to droop, fade, wilt.

 

-) Antonyms of flag: to renew.

 

… it is wrong to wait till the leaves begin to flag for want of water.

The Floricultural Cabinet… 1842

The weather was exceedingly hot. In two days the earth round the plants watered separately was dry, and the plants flagged.

The Gardener and Practical Florist 1844

In respect to watering, if you are always on the spot, it would be better to do it only when the plants begin to flag.

George Glenny… The culture… 1862

3. Obsolete: (of a bird) to fly unsteadily; to move its wings feebly.

 

4. (Of a person or another animal) to become feeble; to fail in his locomotion through fatigue or the like; to lose vigor. 

 

-) Synonym: to languish.

[…] the dogs flagged in their speed, — their strength was failing, for they had not had, among them all, enough food for the meal of one dog.

Isabella Towers… The wanderings… 1830

5. (Of something) to lose vigor; to become diminished in intensity, power, or effect.

 

When his appetite flags, he still feeds on.

Thomas Skinner… Excursions in India 1832

It was a gloomy night at the Bald Eagle. A few boon companions sat late over their bottle, drank hard, and tried to be merry; but it would not do. Good humour flagged, the jokes were bad, the laughter forced, and one after another slunk away to bed, full of bad liquor, and reeling with the fumes of brandy and beer.

The Republic of Letters 1833

[…] when the story is completed and before the reader's attention has flagged.

Franklin Baker… Everyday English 1916

[…] my interest flagged.

Charlotte Bronte… Villette 1853

6. (Of a literary work, game, conversation, etc.) to become uninteresting.

 

-) With the preposition into + noun standing for the consequence:

 

The conversation, such as it was, had flagged into silence, when the post-chaise drew up at the door.

Hood's magazine and comic miscellany, 1845

-) English word derived from FLAG: flagging.