flay

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: From Middle English flayen, flaien, fleien, from Old English *flīeġan ("to cause to fly, put to flight, frighten"; found only in compounds: āflīeġan), from Proto-Germanic *flaugijaną (“to let fly, cause to fly”), causative of Proto-Germanic *fleuganą (“to fly”).

1. A fright; a scare.
2. Fear; a source of fear; a formidable matter; a fearsome or repellent-looking person.

verb

Etymology: From Middle English flen, from Old English flēan, from Proto-West Germanic *flahan, from Proto-Germanic *flahaną.

1. To strip the skin off; to skin.

   “The farmer flayed him as he had the bear, and so he had both bear-skin and fox-skin.”

2. To lash or whip.