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Glite Dictionary
to flay

to flay

15 9.3
To cut the skin off a person or animal, often for punishment and before cooking
  • verb
  • /fleɪ/
  • NSFW
translation icon : desollar
  • Congress would flay you alive.
  • flayed alive
  • flayed skin
  • flayed body

And by the time he got there, his, I think it was his brother-in-law, was on the beach, flayed open at the stomach.

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Examples

  • If Dave tries to defend this I'm going to flay him alive.

  • No, watching you flay the skin from his face so gently.

    Holmes & Watson (2018)

  • Yeah, flay means to, you know, remove the skin from.

  • You carefully flay the rabbit with a sharp knife and cut off its head.

    The Lobster (2015)

  • Well, the medieval remedy was to flay the skin off your body with brands of fire.

    Innerspace (1987)

  • When I came nearer, I saw a man flaying a horse still harnessed to a cart in the square.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • In the cooking show, the chef demonstrated how to flay a fish before cooking it.

  • The butcher is skilled at flaying animals swiftly and efficiently for meat preparation.

  • After catching the deer, the hunter knew it was time to flay it for dinner.

Synonyms

to skin
vsto flay
10 2.7

To remove the outer layer from a fruit, vegetable, or animal

is more specific, focusing on severe human or meat cases rather than general foods
to skin someone alive
vsto flay
  • Offensive
6 8.8

To scold or punish someone severely to show strong anger, not a real action

is literal removal of the outer layer not a figurative harsh punishment
to excoriating
vsto flay
9.0

To wear away the skin by rubbing

involves deliberate stripping of the outer layer often as punishment or for meat

How Violent

to flay
  • NSFW
15 9.3
to skin
10 2.7

Surface Forms

flay infinitive
flaying present participle
flays third person singular
flayed past
flayed past participle

Etymology

Flay is a word that brings to mind stripping an animal's 'skin'; a helpful way to remember it is to imagine peeling off a heavy coat or a fleece from a sheep. So, to flay is to remove the skin or outer layer.