[f. FLAG sb.1]
† 1. trans. To plant about with flags or reeds.
1685. Evelyn, Diary, 22 Oct. The waters are flagged about with Calamus aromaticus.
2. To tighten (the seams of a barrel) by means of flags or rushes.
1757. W. Thompson, R. N. Advoc., 15. Sending back a Cask sometime sicne, which was not well flag’d, the Person that made it was ordered to remedy the Defect.
1842. Guide to Trade, Cooper 50. Inside joints … must be flagged.
1846. Sir T. D. Lauder, in Encycl. Brit. (ed. 8), IX. 639/1. After which it [the barrel] should be flagged, headed, blown, and tightened.
3. To cut off the flag or blade of (wheat).
1846. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., VII. II. 538. I had to flag my wheat three times … and then it was partially laid.
Hence Flagging vbl. sb. Also attrib.
1842. Guide to Trade, Cooper, 73. Pulling off from the head, with the flagging iron, the stave or staves that [etc.].
1846. Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc., VII. II. 299. So rank will be the corn-crop there, that in spite of two or three flaggings, it is almost sure to go down and spoil.
