flag

Everyday

1. A flag is a piece of cloth with colours and pictures that stands for a country, a team or a group. tree →
2. A flag can be a sign or signal, like a chequered flag at the end of a race or a red flag for danger. tree →
3. To flag something is to mark it so people notice it. tree →
4. To flag means to get tired and slow down. tree →

In the lessons

In school maths: things counted, often put along a line at equal gaps; flags with stripes or colours; symmetry in flag designs. In geography: national flags (the Union Jack, the Stars and Stripes, the Maple Leaf). In safety: swim between the red and yellow flags at the beach (Australia, New Zealand, UK). Phrases: «wave a flag», «fly a flag», «red flag», «flag down» (wave to stop a car).

Examples

• There are 12 flags along the street. tree →
• Each flag has 3 stripes. tree →
• Flags are put every 4 m on a 20 m path. tree →
• She draws 5 red flags and 3 blue flags. tree →
• The flag of Canada has a red maple leaf. tree →
• Always swim between the red and yellow flags. tree →
• The runners were flagging near the end of the race. tree →
• The teacher flagged the mistakes in red. tree →
• Steamboats, with waving flags, pass swiftly by. tree →

Note

Countable: «a flag». A flag «flies» or «waves». Maths: counted things; along a line, flags and gaps differ by one. Trap: count flags at both ends.

In Jewish tradition

In the Torah "flags" are reeds or water plants by the river, where baby Moses was hidden. Isaiah also names reeds and flags that wither when the Nile dries up.

Interpretation. Tradition notes that Moses was saved among the reeds of the Nile, the same river Pharaoh used to drown the boys. Isaiah's picture of the drying river and withering reeds is read as a warning of God's judgment on Egypt.

Examples

• And the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe in the river; and her maidens walked along by the river-side; and she saw the ark among the flags, and sent her handmaid to fetch it. (Torah EXO.2.5, JPS 1917) tree →
• And when she could not longer hide him, she took for him an ark of bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and with pitch; and she put the child therein, and laid it in the flags by the river's brink. (Torah EXO.2.3, JPS 1917) tree →
• And the rivers shall become foul; the streams of Egypt shall be minished and dried up; the reeds and flags shall wither. (Prophets ISA.19.6, JPS 1917) tree →

Note

Countable: «a flag». A flag «flies» or «waves». Maths: counted things; along a line, flags and gaps differ by one. Trap: count flags at both ends.