flay

• enPR: flā, IPA^(key): /fleɪ/
• (dialectal) enPR: flē, IPA^(key): /fliː/^[1]

• Audio (US):

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• Rhymes: -eɪ

From Middle English flayen, flaien, fleien, from Old English *flīeġan ("to cause to fly, put to flight, frighten"; found only in compounds: āflīeġan), from Proto-Germanic *flaugijaną (“to let fly, cause to fly”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”).

• fla (Yorkshire)
• fley, flee, fly, fleg, flae, flea (Scotland)

flay (third-person singular simple present flays, present participle flaying, simple past and past participle flayed)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
2. (transitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To frighten; scare; terrify.
   • 1979, “The Trial”, in The Wall, performed by Pink Floyd:

     If they'd let me have my way, I could have flayed him into shape

3. (intransitive, UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) To be fear-stricken.

• flaying

flay (plural flays)

1. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) A fright; a scare.
2. (UK dialectal, Northern England, Scotland) Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking individual.

• flaysome

From Middle English flen, from Old English flēan, from Proto-West Germanic *flahan, from Proto-Germanic *flahaną.

flay (third-person singular simple present flays, present participle flaying, simple past flayed or (archaic) flaid or (obsolete) flew, past participle flayed or (archaic) flaid or (obsolete) flew or (archaic) flain)

1. To strip the skin off; to skin.
   • 1886, Peter Christen Asbj&oslash￵rnsen, translated by H.L. Brækstad, Folk and Fairy Tales, page 113:

     The farmer flayed him as he had the bear, and so he had both bear-skin and fox-skin.

2. To lash or whip.

• (remove the skin of): fleece, flense, skin

• beflay
• flail
• flayer
• flay someone alive
• unflayed

• Alfy