Flaw (fl&asuml_;), n. [OE. flai, flaw flake; cf. Sw. flaga flaw, crack, breach, flake, D. vlaag gust of wind, Norw. flage, flaag, and E. flag a flat stone.] 1. A crack or breach; a gap or fissure; a defect of continuity or cohesion; as, a flaw in a knife or a vase.
[1913 Webster]

This heart
Shall break into a hundered thousand flaws. Shak.
[1913 Webster]

2. A defect; a fault; as, a flaw in reputation; a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute.
[1913 Webster]

Has not this also its flaws and its dark side? South.
[1913 Webster]

3. A sudden burst of noise and disorder; a tumult; uproar; a quarrel. [Obs.]
[1913 Webster]

And deluges of armies from the town
Came pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw. Dryden.
[1913 Webster]

4. A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration.
[1913 Webster]

Snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw. Milton.
[1913 Webster]

Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. Tennyson.

Syn. -- Blemish; fault; imperfection; spot; speck.
[1913 Webster]