flayn.
/fleɪ/, U.S. /fleɪ/ dialect.
A part of a plough, for ‘flaying’ or paring off the surface of the ground.
ΚΠ
1805 R. W. Dickson Pract. Agric. I. 8 An iron earth~board firmly screwed to the coulter, which in some places is called a flay.
1879 G. F. Jackson Shropshire Word-bk. Flay, part of a plough; it goes before the coulter and pares off the surface of the ground, turning it under the furrow which the plough makes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
flayv.
/fleɪ/, U.S. /fleɪ/ 1. transitive. To strip or pull off the skin or hide of; to skin:absolute.1597 R. Hooker Of Lawes Eccl. Politie v. lxv. 157 To them which thinke it alwayes imperfect reformation that doth but sheere and not flea.
a. with object a person: often in to flay alive (or †quick).
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)] > flay
to flay alive (or quick)a800
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > strip of skin
flaya800
beflaya1000
hilda1000
scorchc1430
escorse1546
skin1566
case1575
uncase1575
unskin1598
blank?c1600
excoriate1614
deglubate1623
hide1757
flipe1892
a800 Corpus Gloss. 659 Deglobere, flean.
c1275 (?a1200) Laȝamon Brut (Calig.) (1963) l. 3199 Oðer he heom lette quic flan [c1300 Otho flean].
c1300 Havelok (Laud) (1868) 612 He shal him hangen, or quik flo.
1430 J. Lydgate tr. Hist. Troy i. iii Out of his skynne he hath him stript and flawe.
1474 W. Caxton tr. Game & Playe of Chesse (1883) ii. iii. 40 He dide hym to be flain all quyk.
1555 R. Eden Briefe Descr. Moscouia in tr. Peter Martyr of Angleria Decades of Newe Worlde f. 261v Whom the Barbarians..fleyde alyue and slewe.
1693 W. Congreve Old Batchelour ii. i. 9 No doubt, they would have flead me alive.
1709 M. Prior Paulo Purganti They should be hang'd or starv'd, or flead.
1800 Sporting Mag. 15 51 You must flea a Muscovite to make him feel.
1866 C. Kingsley Hereward the Wake I. v. 158 Your friend..whom if I catch, I flay alive.
b. with object an animal.
ΚΠ
c1340 in T. Wright Polit. Songs Eng. (1839) 191 We shule flo the Conyng, ant make roste is loyne.
a1375 (c1350) William of Palerne (1867) l. 1682 Men..þat fast fonden alday to flen wilde bestes.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 50 Fyrst flyghe þyn elys.
1486 Bk. St. Albans E iij b Now to speke of the bestes when thay be slayne How many be strypte and how many be flayne.
1558 W. Ward tr. G. Ruscelli Secretes Alexis of Piemount iii. f. 73v Than kyll him [a young crow] and flawe him.
1681 J. Chetham Angler's Vade Mecum xxxix. 175 Take Eels, flea, gut, and wipe them.
1736 Compl. Family-piece i. ii. 112 Flea your Hair, and lard it with Bacon.
1849 G. P. R. James Woodman I. vii. 120 Whole deer were often brought in to be broken and flayed.
2. To strip off or remove portions of the skin (or analogous membrane) from; to excoriate. Often hyperbolically (cf. scarify v.1).
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > injure [verb (transitive)] > chafe or excoriate
flayc1250
to-shell1377
gallc1440
excoriate1497
chafe1526
to pare to (also beyond, etc.) the quick1538
spur-galla1555
gald1555
raw1593
begall1597
rub1618
rind1893
c1250 Meid Maregrete xxxvi Mit swopes ant mit scorges habbe ye me flo.
13.. Early Eng. Alit. Poems (1864) A. 809 With boffetez watz hys face flayn.
1482 Monk of Evesham 73 Sum of hem had her fyngers f [l] ayne.
1565–73 T. Cooper Thesaurus Aduri..to be flawed, to be scorched, as mens thies or legs be with fretting.
1596 P. Colse Penelopes Complaint sig. C1 These fingers should have flead his face.
1612 B. Jonson Alchemist iv. iii. sig. I4 You shall..Be curried, claw'd, and flaw'd, and taw'd, indeed. View more context for this quotation
a1631 J. Donne Serm. (1956) VIII. 215 If thou flea thy selfe with haire-cloathes, and whips.
1659 R. Lovelace Poems (1864) 233 Rayl, till your edged breath flea your raw throat.
1697 J. Addison Ess. Georgics in J. Dryden tr. Virgil Wks. sig. ¶¶1 The Goats and Oxen are almost flead with Cold.
1709 C. Cibber Rival Fools iii. 35 I gad he wou'd have flead your Backside for you.
1748 tr. P. Lozano True Relation Earthquake Lima iii. §3. 292 The Taste of it is so harsh, that it fleas the Tongues of such as are not used to it.
1840 J. W. Carlyle Let. 5 Oct. In the ardour of my medical practice I flayed the whole neck of me with a blister.
1849 T. B. Macaulay Hist. Eng. (1871) II. xv. 171 The prospect of dying in Newgate, with a back flayed and an eye knocked out.
3. figurative and transferred.
a. To inflict acute pain or torture upon.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > torture > [verb (transitive)]
bethrowOE
tintreghec1175
tormentc1290
pinse?c1335
anguisha1425
pincha1425
to put to (the) torture1551
agonize1570
torture1594
scorchc1595
flay1782
the mind > emotion > suffering > mental anguish or torment > cause of mental anguish or torment > cause anguish to or torment [verb (transitive)]
quelmeOE
eatc1000
martyrOE
fretc1175
woundc1175
to-fret?c1225
gnawc1230
to-traya1250
torment1297
renda1333
anguish1340
grindc1350
wringc1374
debreakc1384
ofpinec1390
rivea1400
urn1488
reboil1528
whip1530
cruciate1532
pinch1548
spur-galla1555
agonize1570
rack1576
cut1582
excruciate1590
scorchc1595
discruciate1596
butcher1597
split1597
torture1598
lacerate1600
harrow1603
hell1614
to eat upa1616
arrow1628
martyrize1652
percruciate1656
tear1666
crucify1702
flay1782
wrench1798
kill1800
to cut up1843
1782 W. Cowper Progress of Error in Poems 583 Habits are soon assum'd; but when we strive To strip them off, 'tis being flay'd alive.
1884 L. J. Jennings in Croker Papers II. xiv. 49 Macaulay has laid bare the entire process of flaying an author.
b. To divest (a person) of clothing; to ‘strip’, undress. humorous nonce-use.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > providing with clothing > undressing or removing clothing > undress or remove clothing [verb (transitive)] > strip or undress a person
to dight nakedc1200
stripa1225
unclothec1300
nakea1350
despoilc1386
spoilc1386
spoila1400
uncleada1400
undighta1400
unarray14..
disarrayc1425
disattire?1473
unray1485
uncover1530
tirr1553
disclothe1570
disvesture1570
uncoat1571
uncase1576
unapparel1577
disrobe1590
unrig1591
unbusk1596
unstrip1596
untire1597
devest1598
unparel1603
unshale1604
unvest1609
disapparel1610
flaya1616
undress1615
disinvest1619
disvest1627
despoil1632
blanch1675
unpack1765
ungarment1805
peel1820
divest1848
divesture1854
a1616 W. Shakespeare Winter's Tale (1623) iv. iv. 642 Nay prethee dispatch: the Gentleman is halfe fled already. View more context for this quotation
c. To strip (a person) of his money or belongings by extortion or exaction; to pillage, plunder. Also, to do this by cheating; to ‘clean out’. Cf. fleece v., shear v.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > taking > extortion > practise extortion on [verb (transitive)]
ransom?a1425
to poll and pill1528
exact1534
bloodsuck?1541
extort1561
rack1576
flay1584
shave1606
wire-draw1616
punisha1626
sponge1631
squeeze1639
screwa1643
to screw up1655
bleed1680
torture1687
to screw down1725
to shake down1872
to squeeze (someone) until the pips squeak1918
to bleed white1935
rent1956
the mind > possession > taking > stealing or theft > defrauding or swindling > perpetrate (a swindle) [verb (transitive)] > defraud or swindle
defraud1362
deceivec1380
plucka1500
lurch1530
defeata1538
souse1545
lick1548
wipe1549
fraud1563
use1564
cozen1573
nick1576
verse1591
rooka1595
trim1600
skelder1602
firk1604
dry-shave1620
fiddle1630
nose1637
foista1640
doa1642
sharka1650
chouse1654
burn1655
bilk1672
under-enter1692
sharp1699
stick1699
finger1709
roguea1714
fling1749
swindle1773
jink1777
queer1778
to do over1781
jump1789
mace1790
chisel1808
slang1812
bucket1819
to clean out1819
give it1819
to put in the hole1819
ramp1819
sting1819
victimize1839
financier1840
gum1840
snakea1861
to take down1865
verneuk1871
bunco1875
rush1875
gyp1879
salt1882
daddle1883
work1884
to have (one) on toast1886
slip1890
to do (a person) in the eye1891
sugar1892
flay1893
to give (someone) the rinky-dink1895
con1896
pad1897
screw1900
short-change1903
to do in1906
window dress1913
ream1914
twist1914
clean1915
rim1918
tweedle1925
hype1926
clip1927
take1927
gazump1928
yentz1930
promote1931
to take (someone) to the cleaners1932
to carve up1933
chizz1948
stiff1950
scam1963
to rip off1969
to stitch up1970
skunk1971
to steal (someone) blind1974
diddle-
1584 H. Llwyd & D. Powel Hist. Cambria 345 Officers were sent afresh to flea those who had been shorne before.
1620 J. Melton Astrologaster 3 A griping Lawyer..will bee sure to fleece him, if hee do not flea him.
1620 Hist. Frier Rush sig. C4 I haue beene among players at the Dice and Cardes, and I haue caused..the one to flea the other.
1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy i. ii. iv. vi. 207 They are..so flead and fleeced by perpetuall exactions.
1665 W. Temple Let. to Ld. Arlington in Wks. (1731) II. 6 The Hollanders..being..flay'd with Taxes, distracted with Factions.
1879 J. A. Froude Cæsar xxii. 381 Plundering cities and temples and flaying the people with requisitions.
1893 J. S. Farmer Slang Flay..2 (American) To clean out by unfair means.
d. To strip (a building, or the like) of its exterior ornament or covering.
ΘΚΠ
the world > existence and causation > creation > destruction > damage > damage or injure [verb (transitive)] > damage deliberately or vandalize > gut or remove things from a building, etc.
unripa1513
tirr1553
discover1563
unfloor1589
unpinion1593
unbottom1598
unbrick1598
unpave1598
unroof1598
unslate1598
untop1598
flay1636
unplank1646
gut1688
unmantle1828
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare
strip?c1225
nakena1250
unhelea1250
unhilla1250
tirvec1386
barec1440
plumec1450
strope1527
unstrip1596
bald1602
unvest1609
denudate1634
flay1636
denude1658
nudate1721
1636 W. Davenant Witts v. sig. K How, Flea Monuments of their Brazen skinnes?
1675 J. Covel Diary in J. T. Bent Early Voy. Levant (1893) ii. 182 The ruines of an old castle that was here; it was all flead to build the Turkish moschs.
1686 Bp. G. Burnet Some Lett. conc. Switzerland iii. 173 The outside..is quite flea'd, If I may so speak, but on designe to give it a rich out side of Marble.
1847 Ld. Tennyson Princess v. 119 As comes a pillar of electric cloud, Flaying off the roofs and sucking up the drains.
4. figurative and in extended use.1607 T. Dekker & J. Webster North-ward Hoe ii. sig. C4 Flea off your skins [i.e. take off your disguises].1654 R. Whitlock Ζωοτομία 530 [The world's] out-side filme of contentednesse, which when flaid off, what appeareth but vanity, or vexation of Spirit.† b. To tear off (a man's beard) together with the skin. Obsolete.
a. To strip or peel off (the skin). Also with off, †up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > strip of skin > strip (the skin)
flayc1250
hilda1375
flipec1540
c1250 Meid Maregrete xxxiv Al þet fel from þe fleisc gunnen ho to flo.
c1384 Bible (Wycliffite, E.V.) (Douce 369(2)) (1850) Micah iii. 3 Whiche eeten fleshe of my peple, and hildiden, or flewen, the skyn of hem fro aboue.
a1500 R. Henryson tr. Æsop Fables: Wolf & Wether l. 2493 in Poems (1981) 93 With that in hy the doggis skyn off he flew.
1587 L. Mascall First Bk. Cattell 267 They doe vse to..flea vp the skinne on both sides.
c1626 Dick of Devonshire (1955) 2073 Flea ye Divells skin over his eares.
1651 H. More Second Lash of Alazanomastix in Enthusiasmus Triumphatus (1656) 168 Touchy, proud men..as it were with their skins flean off.
a1684 J. Evelyn Diary anno 1646 (1955) II. 513 As it snows often so it perpetualy freezes, & of this I was so sensible, as it flaw'd the very skin of my face.
1743 H. Fielding Jonathan Wild iv. vii, in Misc. III. 336 The first Man who offers to come in here, I will have his Skin flea'd off.
1865 A. C. Swinburne Atalanta in Calydon 58 And we will flay thy boarskin with male hands.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > ill health > injury > maiming or mutilation > maim or mutilate [verb (transitive)] > remove beard with skin
flayc1330
c1330 R. Mannyng Chron. Wace (Rolls) 12452 Fful manye kynges had he don slo, and flow þe berdes of alle þo.
1470–85 T. Malory Morte d'Arthur i. xxvii They gaf hym their berdys clene flayne of.
a1500 (?c1450) Merlin xxxi. 620 I shall..make thy beerde be flayn, and drawe from thy chyn boustously.
5. transferred (chiefly dialect)
a. To strip the bark, rind, husk, or other integument from; to bark, peel.
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > strip of outer layer > strip of skin, husk, or bark
bipilc1230
unrinda1382
slipe?c1390
hull1398
pill1440
husk1562
flay1574
unhusk1598
decorticate1611
depilate1620
rind1623
excorticate1657
disbark1659
1574 R. Scot Perfite Platf. of Hoppe Garden (1578) 59 To flawe the Poales..is more than needeth to be done in thys behalfe.
1686 R. Plot Nat. Hist. Staffs. ix. 382 They flaw it [sc. Timber] standing about the beginning or middle of May.
1713 W. Derham Physico-theol. iv. xi. 192 Birds, who have occasion to husk and flay the Grains they swallow.
1869 Echo 9 Oct. In Sussex..a man was believed to earn from £40 to £45 in the year, including what he gets from flawing timber in the spring.
b. To remove or strip off (rind, bark, etc.) Also with off. (Chiefly in form flaw.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > uncover or remove covering from [verb (transitive)] > strip or make bare > strip of outer layer > strip of skin, husk, or bark > strip (skin, husk, or bark)
flayc1320
pilla1387
slip1535
excoriate1547
slipe1781
c1320 Cast. Love 1308 As a mon þe rynde fleþ.
1577 B. Googe tr. C. Heresbach Foure Bks. Husbandry ii. f. 74 Cutte it [sc. a bud] rounde about, and flawe of the rynde.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. ii To Fley or pull off the rinde or skin, Deglubate.
1631 Accts. St. John's Hosp., Canterbury (Canterbury Cathedral Archives: CCA-U13/5) [Layd out] for flawinge the tanne iiijs. ixd.
1796 Trans. Soc. Arts 14 234 From the largest of those arms, I flawed off slips of rind.
c. To pare or strip off thin slices of (turf). Also with off, up.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > farming > cultivation or tillage > reclamation > reclaim [verb (transitive)] > clear land > clear of turf
beat?1523
pare1530
flaya1661
vell1674
unturf1890
a1661 W. Brereton Trav. (1844) 96 They cutt and flea top~turves with linge upon them.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. ix. 390/2 A Turf Spade..is to cut and flea up the surface of any thing flat.
1735 J. Swift Humble Addr. to Parl. in Wks. IV. 240 That odious Custom..of cutting Scraws..which is flaying off the green Surface of the Ground, to cover their Cabbins.
1869 J. C. Atkinson Peacock's Gloss. Dial. Hundred of Lonsdale Flay, to pare turf with a breast plough.
6. Phrases. to flay a flint: to be guilty of the worst meanness or extortion in order to get money. (cf. flay-flint n.). †to flay the fox: to vomit (translating French slang écorcher le renard).
ΘΚΠ
the mind > possession > retaining > niggardliness or meanness > be niggardly or mean [verb (intransitive)] > extremely
to flay a flint1653
to skin a flint1656
to whip the cata1825
the mind > will > wish or inclination > desire > evil desire > [verb (intransitive)] > behave evilly for personal gain
to flay a flint1653
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > disorders of internal organs > digestive disorders > have digestive disorder [verb (intransitive)] > vomit
spewc897
vomea1382
brake1393
perbreak?a1400
castc1440
envomish1480
parbreak1495
vomita1500
to cast the crawa1529
to cast (up), heave, spue up, vomit one's gorgea1529
galpa1535
to cast out1561
puke1586
purge1596
void1605
to jerk, shoot, whip the cat1609
rid1647
to flay the fox1653
posset1781
to shoot the cat1785
to throw up1793
throw1804
cascade1805
reject1822
yark1867
sick1924
to toss (also shoot, blow, etc.) one's cookies1927
to lose a dinner (or a meal)1941
to spew one's ring1949
chunder1950
barf1960
upchuck1960
yuck1963
ralph1966
to go for the big spit1967
vom1991
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais in Wks. (1694) i. xi. 42 He would flay the Fox.
1659 T. Burton Diary (1828) IV. 398 Some of them were so strict that they would flea a flint.
1699 B. E. New Dict. Canting Crew at Flay He'll flay a Flint, of a meer Scrat or Miser.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > clarifying liquids > clarify [verb (transitive)]
clarifyc1430
defecatec1487
flay1530
settle1599
serene1708
1530 J. Palsgrave Lesclarcissement 551/1 I flaye oyle with water, whan it boyleth, to make it mete to frye fysshe with. Je detaingz lhuyle.
Compounds
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > corporal punishment > [noun] > one who beats
beater1483
lambacker1593
breecher1611
trouncerc1630
flaybreech1671
flogger1708
drubbera1721
thrasher?1853
swisher1884
1671 H. M. tr. Erasmus Colloquies 49 He is a more cruel flaybreech than even Orbilius.
Derivatives
flayed adj. (also †flayn)
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > relative position > condition of being external > covering > uncovering > [adjective] > stripped or made bare > stripped of skin
discoriate1483
flayed1605
unskinned1607
skin-peeled1616
unhideda1658
skinned1673
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 163/2 Flayne, or flawyn, excoriatus.
1579 T. Lupton Thousand Notable Things i. 10 A Flayne Mouse rosted.
1605 J. Sylvester tr. G. de S. Du Bartas Deuine Weekes & Wks. ii. i. 342 The Dysenterie..Extorteth pure blood from the flayed vaines.
1622 T. Overbury et al. Characters in His Wife (11th impr.) sig. G3v His Iests are..old flead Prouerbs.
a1652 R. Brome City Wit v. sig. F6, in Five New Playes (1653) The fresh skin of a flead Cat.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey III. x. 635 Let the flea'd victims in the flames be cast.
1835 Gentleman's Mag. Feb. 192/2 The loose flayed skin which belonged to the arms.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
> see also
also refers to : fleyflayn.
also refers to : fleyflayv.
<
n.1805
v.a800see also
- inarticulateness
- inarticulatenesses
- inarticulates
- inarticulation
- inartificial
- inartificiality
- inartificially
- inartistic
- inartistical
- inartisticality
- inartistically
- inasmuch
- inasmuch as
- inasperate
- inassimilable
- inassimilation
- inassuageable
- inassurance
- inattackable
- inattention
- inattentions
- inattentive
- inattentively
- inattentiveness
- inattentivenesses