- a piece of cloth with a special coloured design on it that may be the symbol of a particular country or organization, may be used to give a signal or may have a particular meaning. A flag can be attached to a pole (= a long thin straight piece of wood or metal) or held in the hand.
- the Italian flag
- the flag of Italy
- The hotel flies the European Union flag.
- The American flag was flying.
- Hundreds of people cheered and waved flags.
- All the flags were at half mast (= in honour of a famous person who has died).
- The black and white flag went down, and the race began.
- The assistant referee had raised his flag for offside.
- A large Brazilian flag fluttered above the podium.
- His shot went closer to the corner flag than the goal.
- France's flag bearer (= person who carried the flag) at the Paris Olympics
Extra Examples- A tattered flag hung from the roof of the burnt-out building.
- The crowd all waved flags as the president came past.
- The fact that it was so cheap should have been a warning flag for me.
- a flag fluttering in the breeze
- a flag of truce
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- national
- battle
- burning
- …
- fly
- hang
- hang out
- …
- hang
- flap
- flutter
- …
- pole
- under a/the flag
- flag of
- flag of convenience
- flag of surrender
- used to refer to a particular country or organization and its beliefs and values
- to swear allegiance to the flag
- under a flag The team competed under the Olympic flag.
- under the flag of something He was working under the flag of the United Nations.
- a flower that is a type of iris and that grows near water
- yellow flags
- (also flagstone)a large flat square piece of stone that is used for floors, paths, etc.
Word Originnoun senses 1 to 3 mid 16th cent.: perhaps from obsolete flag ‘drooping’, of unknown ultimate origin. noun sense 5 late Middle English (also in the sense ‘turf, sod’): probably of Scandinavian origin and related to Icelandic flag ‘spot from which a sod has been cut’ and Old Norse flaga ‘slab of stone’. noun sense 4 late Middle English: related to Middle Dutch flag and Danish flæg; of unknown ultimate origin.
Idioms
See flag in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionaryfly/show/wave the flag
- to show your support for your country, an organization or an idea to encourage or persuade others to do the same
keep the flag flying
- to represent your country or organization
- Our exporters keep the flag flying at international trade exhibitions.
like waving a red flag in front of a bull (US English)
(British English a red rag to a bull)
- something that is likely to make somebody very angry
Check pronunciation:
flag