flags

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of flag.

   Dozens of national flags hung from the conference hall ceiling.

   Sailors raised signal flags to warn the approaching vessel.

   Note

   A regular plural that covers very different things: pieces of cloth, the designs printed on them, signal flags at sea, and the true-or-false variables programmers set in code. Before another noun, though, the word usually stays singular. Sailors send flag signals, not flags signals, so the plural names the flags themselves rather than describing something else.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of flag.

   The software automatically flags any transaction that looks suspicious.

   Her energy flags by mid-afternoon whenever she skips lunch.

   Note

   The particle after this verb changes what it means. Someone who flags down a bus is signaling it to stop, while a report that flags up a problem is pointing it out for attention. Without a particle, the verb simply marks or notes something, as when software flags a suspicious transaction. The same spelling also serves the plural noun, so the rest of the sentence decides which one is meant.

   The driver flags down a passing taxi outside the station.

   The audit flags up several gaps in the safety records.

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