flay
verb/fleɪ/
/fleɪ/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they flay | /fleɪ/ /fleɪ/ |
| he / she / it flays | /fleɪz/ /fleɪz/ |
| past simple flayed | /fleɪd/ /fleɪd/ |
| past participle flayed | /fleɪd/ /fleɪd/ |
| -ing form flaying | /ˈfleɪɪŋ/ /ˈfleɪɪŋ/ |
- to remove the skin from an animal or person, usually when they are dead
- flay somebody/something The captured general was flayed alive.
- flay something from something They flayed the skin from the flesh.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- flay somebody to hit or whip somebody very hard so that some of their skin comes off
- flay somebody/yourself (formal) to criticize somebody/yourself severely
- He flayed himself for his lack of tact.
- Her dark eyes flayed him.
Word OriginOld English flēan, of Germanic origin; related to Middle Dutch vlaen.
Check pronunciation:
flay