flay

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   to strip the skin from a person, animal, or carcass

   The hunters flay the carcass before preparing the meat.

2. 2
   verb

   figurative: to criticize someone or something with extreme severity

   Reviewers flayed the film for its careless treatment of history.

From Middle English flen or flayen, from Old English flean, meaning to strip off the skin, and ultimately from a Germanic root. The figurative sense treats severe criticism as if it stripped or scourged its target.

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