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Flay vs Splay - What's the difference?

flay | splay |

As verbs the difference between flay and splay

is that flay is to cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening) while splay is to display; to spread.

As nouns the difference between flay and splay

is that flay is a fright; a scare while splay is a slope or bevel, especially of the sides of a door or window, by which the opening is made larger at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.

As an adjective splay is

displayed; spread out; turned outward; hence, flat; ungainly; as, splay shoulders.

flay

English

Etymology 1

From (etyl) flayen, flaien, fleien, from (etyl) .

Alternative forms

* (l) (Yorkshire) * (l), (l), (l), (l), (l), (l) (Scotland)

Verb

(en verb)
  • To cause to fly; put to flight; drive off (by frightening).
  • To frighten; scare; terrify.
  • To be fear-stricken.
  • Derived terms
    * (l)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A fright; a scare.
  • Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking individual.
  • Derived terms
    * (l)

    Etymology 2

    From (etyl) flean from (etyl) .

    Verb

  • to strip skin off
  • to lash
  • Synonyms
    * (remove the skin of) fleece, flense, skin

    Anagrams

    *

    splay

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To display; to spread.
  • * Gascoigne
  • our ensigns splayed
  • To dislocate, as a shoulder bone.
  • (obsolete, UK, dialect) To spay; to castrate.
  • To turn on one side; to render oblique; to slope or slant, as the side of a door, window, etc.
  • To rearrange (a splay tree) so that a desired element is placed at the root.
  • Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Displayed; spread out; turned outward; hence, flat; ungainly; as, splay shoulders.
  • * M. Arnold
  • Something splay , something blunt-edged, unhandy, and infelicitous.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A slope or bevel, especially of the sides of a door or window, by which the opening is made larger at one face of the wall than at the other, or larger at each of the faces than it is between them.
  • Anagrams

    * *