From Middle English flawe, flay ("a flake of fire or snow, spark, splinter"), probably from Old Norse flaga, from Proto-Germanic *flagō, from Proto-Indo-European *plok-.

Cognate with Icelandic flaga, Swedish flaga, Danish flage, Middle Low German vlage, Old English flōh.

• (British) IPA: /flɔː/
• (America) IPA: /flɔ/
• (cot-caught) IPA: /flɑ/

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.

   • c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC ↗, [Act II, scene iv]:

     This heart / Shall break into a hundred thousand flaws.

4. A defect, fault, or imperfection, especially one that is hidden.
   • 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London:

     Has not this also its flaws and its dark side?

   1. (in particular) An inclusion, stain, or other defect of a diamond or other gemstone.
   2. (legal) 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

• See also Thesaurus:defect

• French: défaut, fissure
• German: Sprung, Riss, Absplitterung (chipping), Schaden
• Italian: fessura, cricca, crepa
• Portuguese: falha, defeito
• Russian: тре́щина
• Spanish: falla

• French: faille
• German: Makel, Fehler, Macke (slang), Schwachstelle (in an idea), Schlupfloch (in law or contract)
• Italian: difetto, errore, imperfezione
• Portuguese: falha, defeito, erro
• Russian: изъя́н
• Spanish: imperfección, desperfecto, pega

• French: crapaud
• German: Makel
• Italian: imperfezione, difetto
• Spanish: defecto

flaw (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.

• German: beschädigen, verschlechtern
• Russian: по́ртить

• German: Schaden nehmen, sich verschlechtern
• Russian: поврежда́ться

From Middle English *flaugh, from Middle Dutch vlāghe or Middle Low German vlāge, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *flagā.

• IPA: /ˈflɔː/

flaw (plural flaws)

1. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration; windflaw.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC ↗; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC ↗:

     And snow and haile and stormie gust and flaw

   • 1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Enid”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC ↗, page 41 ↗:

     Yniol with that hard message went; it fell, / 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

   • 1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe: A Tragedy. […], London: […] T[homas] N[ewcomb] for Henry Herringman, […], published 1676, →OCLC ↗, (please specify the page number):

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

• French: bourrasque
• German: Windbö, Windstoß, Bö
• Russian: шквал

• French: tumulte