flay

verb
UK: /fleɪ/
US: /fleɪ/

  1. To remove the skin from a body or carcass.

    1. They flay the animal to prepare its meat and hide for use.
    2. The butcher had to flay the deer quickly to preserve the venison before the temperature rose too high.

  2. To criticize severely and brutally.

    1. The critics will flay this play if they don't like it.
    2. Political commentators will flay the new policy if the public perceives it as unfair and ineffective.

Synonyms

skin berate criticize excoriate attack peel strip
flay noun

  1. An act of skinning a body or carcass.

    1. The flay was done quickly.
    2. After the flay, the hide was prepared for tanning and the meat was processed for consumption.

Frequently Asked Questions

The word "flay" in English means: To remove the skin from a body or carcass., To criticize severely and brutally..

The phonetic transcription of "flay" is /fleɪ/ in British English and /fleɪ/ in American English. Click the 🔊 button to hear both pronunciations.

Synonyms for "flay": skin, berate, criticize, excoriate, attack, peel, strip.

Example usage of "flay": "They flay the animal to prepare its meat and hide for use.". More examples on the page.