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- Dictionaryflay/fleɪ/
verb
- 1. strip the skin off (a corpse or carcass): "the captured general was flayed alive" Similar
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FLAY definition: 1. to remove the skin from a person's or animal's body 2. to whip a person or animal so hard that…. Learn more.
The meaning of FLAY is to strip off the skin or surface of : skin. How to use flay in a sentence.
Today, flay most often means to harshly criticize someone, especially in an unmerciful and thorough way—to really roast them, to use another metaphor. Flay is most often used this way when such criticism happens in a public forum, such as in the press or on social media.
If you flay someone, you criticize them severely for their beliefs, policies, or actions.
1. to strip off the skin or outer covering of, esp by whipping; skin. 2. to attack with savage criticism. 3. to strip of money or goods, esp by cheating or extortion. [Old English flēan; related to Old Norse flā to peel, Lithuanian plešti to tear] ˈflayer n.
Nasty word, flay. It means to peel or beat the skin of a person or animal, and not necessarily a dead one, either. Nowadays it more commonly means to criticize harshly someone or something, usually in public, leaving them raw and wounded.
Definition of flay verb in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Meaning, pronunciation, picture, example sentences, grammar, usage notes, synonyms and more.
