1. [n]  a conspicuously marked or shaped tail
2. [n]  emblem usually consisting of a rectangular piece of cloth of distinctive design
3. [n]  stratified stone that splits into pieces suitable as paving stones
4. [n]  flagpole used to mark the position of the hole on a golf green
5. [n]  a rectangular piece of fabric used as a signalling device
6. [n]  plants with sword-shaped leaves and erect stalks bearing bright-colored flowers composed of three petals and three drooping sepals
7. [v]  become less intense
8. [v]  provide with a flag; "Flag this file so that I can recognize it immediately"
9. [v]  communicate or signal with a flag
10. [v]  decorate with flags, as of buildings
11. [v]  droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness

1. \Flag\ (fl[a^]g), v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Flagged}; p. pr. &
   vb. n. {Flagging}.] [Cf. Icel. flaka to droop, hang loosely.
   Cf. {Flacker}, {Flag} an ensign.]
   1. To hang loose without stiffness; to bend down, as flexible
      bodies; to be loose, yielding, limp.
            As loose it [the sail] flagged around the mast. --T.
                                                  Moore.
   2. To droop; to grow spiritless; to lose vigor; to languish;
      as, the spirits flag; the streugth flags.
            The pleasures of the town begin to flag. --Swift.
   Syn: To droop; decline; fail; languish; pine.
   

2. \Flag\ (fl[a^]g), v. t.
   1. To let droop; to suffer to fall, or let fall, into
      feebleness; as, to flag the wings. --prior.
   2. To enervate; to exhaust the vigor or elasticity of.
            Nothing so flags the spirits.         --Echard.
   

3. \Flag\, n. [Cf. LG. & G. flagge, Sw. flagg, Dan. flag, D.
   vlag. See {Flag} to hang loose.]
   1. That which flags or hangs down loosely.
   2. A cloth usually bearing a device or devices and used to
      indicate nationality, party, etc., or to give or ask
      information; -- commonly attached to a staff to be waved
      by the wind; a standard; a banner; an ensign; the colors;
      as, the national flag; a military or a naval flag.
   3. (Zo["o]l.)
      (a) A group of feathers on the lower part of the legs of
          certain hawks, owls, etc.
      (b) A group of elongated wing feathers in certain hawks.
      (c) The bushy tail of a dog, as of a setter.
   {Black flag}. See under {Black}.
   {Flag captain}, {Flag leutenant}, etc., special officers
      attached to the flagship, as aids to the flag officer.
   {Flag officer}, the commander of a fleet or squadron; an
      admiral, or commodore.
   {Flag of truse}, a white flag carried or displayed to an
      enemy, as an invitation to conference, or for the purpose
      of making some communication not hostile.
   {Flag share}, the flag officer's share of prize money.
   {Flag station} (Railroad), a station at which trains do not
      stop unless signaled to do so, by a flag hung out or
      waved.
   {National flag}, a flag of a particular country, on which
      some national emblem or device, is emblazoned.
   {Red flag}, a flag of a red color, displayed as a signal of
      danger or token of defiance; the emblem of anarchists.
   {To dip, the flag}, to mlower it and quickly restore it to
      its place; -- done as a mark of respect.
   {To hang out the white flag}, to ask truce or quarter, or, in
      some cases, to manifest a friendly design by exhibiting a
      white flag.
   {To hang the flag} {half-mast high or half-staff}, to raise
      it only half way to the mast or staff, as a token or sign
      of mourning.
   {To} {strike, or lower}, {the flag}, to haul it down, in
      token of respect, submission, or, in an engagement, of
      surrender.
   {Yellow flag}, the quarantine flag of all nations; also
      carried at a vessel's fore, to denote that an infectious
      disease is on board.
   

4. \Flag\, v. t. [From {Flag} an ensign.]
   1. To signal to with a flag; as, to flag a train.
   2. To convey, as a message, by means of flag signals; as, to
      flag an order to troops or vessels at a distance.
   

5. \Flag\, n. [From {Flag} to hang loose, to bend down.]
   (Bot.)
   An aquatic plant, with long, ensiform leaves, belonging to
   either of the genera {Iris} and {Acorus}.
   {Cooper's flag}, the cat-tail ({Typha latifolia}), the long
      leaves of which are placed between the staves of barrels
      to make the latter water-tight.
   {Corn flag}. See under 2d {Corn}.
   {Flag broom}, a coarse of broom, originally made of flags or
      rushes.
   {Flag root}, the root of the sweet flag.
   {Sweet flag}. See {Calamus}, n., 2.
   

6. \Flag\, v. t.
   To furnish or deck out with flags.
   

7. \Flag\, n. [Icel. flaga, cf. Icel. flag spot where a turf
   has been cut out, and E. flake layer, scale. Cf. {Floe}.]
   1. A flat stone used for paving. --Woodward.
   2. (Geol.) Any hard, evenly stratified sandstone, which
      splits into layers suitable for flagstones.
   

8. \Flag\, v. t.
   To lay with flags of flat stones.
         The sides and floor are all flagged with . . . marble.
                                                  --Sandys.
   

9. \Flag\, n. (Zo["o]l.)
   One of the wing feathers next the body of a bird; -- called
   also {flag feather}.
   

10. \Flag\, v. t.
    To decoy (game) by waving a flag, handkerchief, or the like
    to arouse the animal's curiosity.
          The antelope are getting continually shyer and more
          difficult to flag.                       --T.
                                                   Roosevelt.
    

1. A variable or quantity that can take on one of two values; a bit, particularly one that is used to indicate one of two outcomes or is used to control which of two things is to be done. "This flag controls whether to clear the screen before printing the message." "The program status word contains several flag bits." See also hidden flag, mode bit.

2. command line option.

[Jargon File]

(Heb., or rather Egyptian, ahu, Job 8:11), rendered "meadow" in Gen. 41:2, 18; probably the Cyperus esculentus, a species of rush eaten by cattle, the Nile reed. It also grows in Palestine.

In Ex. 2:3, 5, Isa. 19:6, it is the rendering of the Hebrew _suph_, a word which occurs frequently in connection with _yam_; as _yam suph_, to denote the "Red Sea" (q.v.) or the sea of weeds (as this word is rendered, Jonah 2:5). It denotes some kind of sedge or reed which grows in marshy places. (See PAPER ¯T0002840, REED.)