Emily Dickinson Lexicon

FLAW, n. [W. flaw, a piece rent, a splinter, a ray, a dart, a flaw; flau, a spreading out, a radiation; fla, a parting from; also, floçen, a splinter; floç, a flying about; floçi, to dart suddenly; flyçiaw, to break out abruptly. The Gr. φλαω seems to be contracted from φλαδω or φλαθω.]

1. A breach; a crack; a defect made by breaking or splitting; a gap or fissure; as, a flaw in a sythe, knife or razor; a flaw in a china dish, or in a glass; a flaw in a wall.
2. A defect; a fault; any defect made by violence, or occasioned by neglect; as, a flaw in reputation; a flaw in a will, or in a deed, or in a statute.
3. A sudden burst of wind; a sudden gust or blast of short duration; a word of common use among seamen. [This proves the primary sense to be, to burst or rush.]
4. A sudden burst of noise and disorder; a tumult; uproar. And deluges of armies from the town / Came pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw. Dryden. [In this sense, the word is not used in the United States.]
5. A sudden commotion of mind. [Not used.] Shak.