flaw

Contents

EnglishEdit

Etymology 1Edit

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 *plāk- (“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 (“a frament, piece”).

PronunciationEdit

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈflɔː/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈflɔ/
• (cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈflɑ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː
• Homophone: floor (in non-rhotic accents with the horse–hoarse merger)

NounEdit

flaw (plural flaws)

1. (obsolete) A flake, fragment, or shiver.
2. (obsolete) A thin cake, as of ice.
3. A crack or breach, a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion.

   There is a flaw in that knife.

   That vase has a flaw.

   • Shakespeare

     This heart / Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws.

4. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
   • South

     Has not this also its flaws and its dark side?

5. (law) A defect or error in a contract or other document which may make the document invalid or ineffective.

   a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute

SynonymsEdit

• See also Thesaurus:defect

Derived termsEdit

• flawful
• flawless
• flawsome
• tragic flaw

TranslationsEdit

crack or breach

• Bulgarian: пукнатина (bg) f (puknatina), цепнатина (bg) f (cepnatina)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 疵 (zh) (cī)

• Finnish: virhe (fi)
• French: défaut (fr) m, fissure (fr) f,
• German: Fehler (de)
• Italian: fessura (it) f, cricca (it) f, crepa (it) f
• Japanese: ひび (hibi)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feil (no) m, brist m, skavank m

• Occitan: deca f, brèca (oc) f, bèrca (oc) f
• Portuguese: falha (pt) f, defeito (pt) m
• Russian: тре́щина (ru) f (tréščina), щель (ru) f (ščelʹ), поро́к (ru) m (porók)
• Slovak: prasklina f, škára f
• Spanish: falla (es)
• Swedish: spricka (sv), skavank (sv)
• Turkish: çatlak (tr), çizik (tr)

defect, fault

• Armenian: արատ (hy) (arat)
• Bulgarian: недостатък (bg) m (nedostatǎk), дефект (bg) m (defekt)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瑕疵 (xiácī), 毛病 (máobìng)

• Crimean Tatar: brak
• Czech: vada (cs)
• Finnish: virhe (fi), vika (fi)
• French: faille (fr) f
• German: Makel (de) m, Fehler (de) m
• Italian: difetto (it) m, errore (it) m, imperfezione (it) f
• Japanese: 欠点 (ja) (kekkan), 瑕疵 (ja) (kashi)
• Korean: 결점 (ko) (gyeoljeom)

• Maori: tōrōkiri
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: feil (no) m, brist m, brist m

• Occitan: manca f, deca f, sin (oc) m, peca f, defaut m, taca f
• Polish: wada (pl) f
• Portuguese: falha (pt) f, defeito (pt) m, erro (pt) m
• Russian: изъя́н (ru) m (izʺján), недоста́ток (ru) m (nedostátok), поро́к (ru) m (porók), брак (ru) m (brak), дефе́кт (ru) m (defékt)
• Slovak: vada f, závada f, chyba f
• Slovene: napaka (sl), pomanjkljivost, razpoka (sl)
• Spanish: imperfección (es), desperfecto (es), pega (es) f
• Swedish: fel (sv), brist (sv)
• Turkish: hata (tr), kusur (tr)

VerbEdit

flaw (third-person singular simple present flaws, present participle flawing, simple past and past participle flawed)

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

TranslationsEdit

to add a flaw to

• Bulgarian: пуквам (bg) (pukvam), разцепвам (bg) (razcepvam)

• Russian: по́ртить (ru) impf (pórtitʹ), испо́ртить (ru) pf (ispórtitʹ), поврежда́ть (ru) impf (povreždátʹ), повреди́ть (ru) pf (povredítʹ)

to become imperfect

• Bulgarian: повреждам се (povreždam se)

• Russian: поврежда́ться (ru) impf (povreždátʹsja), повреди́ться (ru) pf (povredítʹsja)

Etymology 2Edit

PronunciationEdit

• IPA^(key): /ˈflɔː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː

NounEdit

flaw (plural flaws)

1. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration.
   • Milton

     Snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw.

   • Tennyson

     Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn.

2. A storm of short duration.
3. A sudden burst of noise and disorder

   Synonyms: tumult, uproar, quarrel

   • Dryden

     And deluges of armies from the town / Came pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw.

TranslationsEdit

burst of wind

• Bulgarian: шквал m (škval)
• French: bourrasque (fr) f

• German: Windbö f
• Russian: шквал (ru) m (škval), поры́в ве́тра m (porýv vétra)

burst of noise

• French: tumulte (fr) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Slovene: ^{(please verify)} napaka, ^{(please verify)} pomanjkljivost, ^{(please verify)} spodrsljaj

AnagramsEdit

• AFLW, WAFL

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Sranan TongoEdit

VerbEdit

flaw

1. To faint.