flayed; flaying; flays
1
: to strip off the skin or surface of : skin
The hunter flayed the rabbit and prepared it for cooking.
2
: to criticize harshly : excoriate
He was flayed by the media for his controversial comments.
3
: lash sense 1b
the wind whipped up to gale fury, flaying his face—
Richard Kent
Richard KentExamples of flay in a Sentence
her husband flayed her constantly for her incessant shopping
flayed their kill right there in the forest, taking both the meat and the skin home
Recent Examples on the Web
If the robot, who frequently metamorphoses, gives shape to some form of justice, it’s flayed down to a name.
—Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The upper fangs sank into Wyatt’s left cheek, just below his eye socket, the lower into his top lip and right nostril, flaying his face in four separate places.
—Malcolm Brooks Malcolm Hillgartner Krish Seenivasan Zak Mouton, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
The radical potential of the scene has mostly evaporated, flattened and flayed into vague signifiers.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 3 Oct. 2024
If the robot, who frequently metamorphoses, gives shape to some form of justice, it’s flayed down to a name.
—Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flay
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Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
The upper fangs sank into Wyatt’s left cheek, just below his eye socket, the lower into his top lip and right nostril, flaying his face in four separate places.
—Malcolm Brooks Malcolm Hillgartner Krish Seenivasan Zak Mouton, New York Times, 31 Dec. 2024
The radical potential of the scene has mostly evaporated, flattened and flayed into vague signifiers.
—Kieran Press-Reynolds, Pitchfork, 3 Oct. 2024
If the robot, who frequently metamorphoses, gives shape to some form of justice, it’s flayed down to a name.
—Elisa Gonzalez, The New Yorker, 3 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for flay
Cite this Entry
“Flay.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/flay. Accessed 3 May. 2025.
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