Library / English Dictionary

FLAW

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

An imperfection in a plan or theory or legal document that causes it to fail or that reduces its effectiveness

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("flaw" is a kind of...):

imperfection; imperfectness (the state or an instance of being imperfect)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Defect or weakness in a person's character

Example:

he had his flaws, but he was great nonetheless

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("flaw" is a kind of...):

failing; weakness (a flaw or weak point)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flaw"):

hamartia; tragic flaw (the character flaw or error of a tragic hero that leads to his downfall)

Derivation:

flaw (add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective)

Sense 3

Meaning:

An imperfection in an object or machine

Example:

if there are any defects you should send it back to the manufacturer

Synonyms:

defect; fault; flaw

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("flaw" is a kind of...):

imperfection; imperfectness (the state or an instance of being imperfect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "flaw"):

blister (a flaw on a surface resulting when an applied substance does not adhere (as an air bubble in a coat of paint))

bug; glitch (a fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine)

hole (a fault)

Derivation:

flaw (add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Add a flaw or blemish to; make imperfect or defective

Synonyms:

blemish; flaw

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "flaw" is one way to...):

damage (inflict damage upon)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

flaw (defect or weakness in a person's character)

flaw (an imperfection in an object or machine)

Credits

 Context examples: 

But her ear had caught the flaw.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Issue associated with a device component having flaws of dimensional deviations greater than acceptable for the intended use.

(Medical Device Component Defective, Food and Drug Administration)

Issue associated with having flaws or dimensional deviations greater than acceptable for the intended use of the device.

(Defective Item Medical Device Problem, Food and Drug Administration)

The magistrate handed him a blue paper which the little knot of gentlemen clustered their heads over, for they were mostly magistrates themselves, and were keenly alive to any possible flaw in the wording.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I know that a great many empty bottles were one of the consequences of this traffic, and that certain men and boys were employed to examine them against the light, and reject those that were flawed, and to rinse and wash them.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No charm was wanting, no defect was perceptible; the young girl had regular and delicate lineaments; eyes shaped and coloured as we see them in lovely pictures, large, and dark, and full; the long and shadowy eyelash which encircles a fine eye with so soft a fascination; the pencilled brow which gives such clearness; the white smooth forehead, which adds such repose to the livelier beauties of tint and ray; the cheek oval, fresh, and smooth; the lips, fresh too, ruddy, healthy, sweetly formed; the even and gleaming teeth without flaw; the small dimpled chin; the ornament of rich, plenteous tresses—all advantages, in short, which, combined, realise the ideal of beauty, were fully hers.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

“But there is one little flaw in your splendid theory. I was myself in my room, and I never left it during the day.”

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The study papers, which were submitted for review on May 19, were kept in confidence allowing companies to fix the security flaw.

(Digital security researchers publicly reveal vulnerability in WPA2 WiFi protocol, Wikinews)

The reason it was flawed is that Uranus (now in Taurus), the planet of unexpected developments, was in a challenging angle to the Sun and new moon at four degrees Aquarius.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

As often as Mick Walker went away in the course of that forenoon, I mingled my tears with the water in which I was washing the bottles; and sobbed as if there were a flaw in my own breast, and it were in danger of bursting.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)