Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Flaw

Flaw (fla) , noun

[Old English flai, flaw flake; compare Swedish flaga flaw, crack, breach, flake, Dutch vlaag gust of wind, Norw. flage, flaag, and English 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.
This heart Shall break into a hundered thousand flaws. — Shakespeare
2.
A defect; a fault; as, a flaw in reputation; a flaw in a will, in a deed, or in a statute.
Has not this also its flaws and its dark side? — South
3.
A sudden burst of noise and disorder; a tumult; uproar; a quarrel. [Obsolete]
And deluges of armies from the town Came pouring in; I heard the mighty flaw. — Dryden
4.
A sudden burst or gust of wind of short duration.
Snow, and hail, and stormy gust and flaw. — Milton
Like flaws in summer laying lusty corn. — Tennyson

Flaw , transitive verb

1.
To crack; to make flaws in.
The brazen caldrons with the frosts are flawed. — Dryden
2.
To break; to violate; to make of no effect. [Obsolete]
France hath flawed the league. — Shakespeare