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flaw

Pronunciation: /flɔː/

The English word “flaw” has 11 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. A flake, fragment, or shiver.
  2. A thin cake, as of ice.
  3. A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.
  4. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
  5. An inclusion, stain, or other defect of a diamond or other gemstone.
  6. A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.
  7. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
  8. A storm of short duration.
  9. A sudden burst of noise and disorder

verb

  1. To add a flaw to, to make imperfect or defective.
  2. To become imperfect or defective; to crack or break.

Etymology

From Middle English flawe, flay (“a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter”), probably from Old Norse flaga (“a flag or slab of stone, flake”), from Proto-Germanic *flagō (“a layer of soil”), from Proto-Indo-European *plok- (“broad, flat”). Cognate with Icelandic flaga (“flake”), Swedish flaga (“flake, scale”), Danish flage (“flake”), Middle Low German vlage (“a layer of soil”), Old English flōh…

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.