plural of flag
"The new policy raises several red flags regarding its potential impact on small businesses."
In plain English: Flags are small pieces of cloth attached to poles that people fly to show support for a country, group, or cause.
"The red flags on the beach warned swimmers that the water was too rough today."
Usage: Use "flags" to refer to multiple pieces of cloth bearing symbols that represent nations, organizations, or events. Do not confuse this with the verb form, which means to mark something for attention or suspend an action.
Third-person singular simple present indicative form of flag
"The athlete flags as he runs toward the finish line, his legs feeling heavy and weak."
In plain English: To flag something means to signal for someone to stop, slow down, or pay attention to you.
"The app flags suspicious activity in your account."
Usage: To flag something means to signal it with a hand or cloth, often used in sports or traffic contexts. You might say an umpire flags a foul, but do not use this meaning when referring to marking items as important or problematic.
Nickname for a flag lieutenant.
"When the new recruits were assigned to their squads, they quickly learned that Sergeant Miller was universally known as Flags because of his rank."
Derived from Old English flagge, this term originally referred to a piece of cloth hanging or fluttering in the wind, later evolving to denote any such banner used as a signal or symbol.