Flaw \Flaw\, n. [OE. flai, flaw flake; cf. Sw. flaga flaw,
crack, breach, flake, D. vlaag gust of wind, Norw. flage,
flaag, and E. flag a flat stone.]
1. A crack or breach; a gap or fissure; a defect of
continuity or cohesion; as, a flaw in a knife or a vase.
This heart Shall break into a hundered thousand
flaws. --Shak.
2. A defect; a fault; as, a flaw in reputation; a flaw in a
will, in a deed, or in a statute.
Has not this also its flaws and its dark side?
--South.
3. A sudden burst of noise and disorder; a tumult; uproar; a
quarrel. [Obs.]
And deluges of armies from the town Came pouring in;
I heard the mighty flaw. --Dryden.
4. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration.
Snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw. --Milton.
Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. --Tennyson.
Syn: Blemish; fault; imperfection; spot; speck.
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
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