flesh: Meaning and Definition of
flesh
Pronunciation: (flesh), [key] — n.
- the soft substance of a human or other animal body, consisting of muscle and fat.
- muscular and fatty tissue.
- this substance or tissue in animals, viewed as an article of food, usually excluding fish and sometimes fowl; meat.
- fatness; weight.
- the body, esp. as distinguished from the spirit or soul: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.
- the physical or animal nature of humankind as distinguished from its moral or spiritual nature: the needs of the flesh.
- humankind.
- living creatures generally.
- a person's family or relatives.
- the soft, pulpy portion of a fruit, vegetable, etc., as distinguished from the core, skin, shell, etc.
- the surface of the human body; skin: A person with tender flesh should not expose it to direct sunlight.
- See
- present and alive before one's eyes; in person: The movie star looked quite different in the flesh.
- something that strict justice demands is due, but can only be paid with great loss or suffering to the payer.
- to shake hands, as with voters while campaigning: The senator is busy as ever pressing the flesh on the campaign trail.
—v.t. - to plunge (a weapon) into the flesh.
- to feed (a hound or hawk) with flesh in order to make it more eager for the chase. Cf. blood (def. 23).
- to incite and accustom (persons) to bloodshed or battle by an initial experience.
- to inflame the ardor or passions of by a foretaste.
- to overlay or cover (a skeleton or skeletal frame) with flesh or with a fleshlike substance.
- to give dimension, substance, or reality to (often fol. by out): The playwright fleshed out the characters.
- to remove adhering flesh from (hides), in leather manufacture.
- to satiate with flesh or fleshly enjoyments; surfeit; glut.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.