crack the flags en · VERB
Etymology
See flag (“a flagstone”); the idea is that the extreme heat might cause paving-stones to split.
Meanings
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(Northern, UK, colloquial) Of the sun or sunshine: to beat down very strongly; to be extremely hot.
The sun's hot enough to crack the flags and there's not a cloud in sight.
2010, Maureen Lee, The House By Princes Park:[…] plus the sun was still cracking the flags as we headed back to Geneva.
2008, Dave Spencer, A Smudge on My Lens, page 276:'Tis fit to crack the flags so you'll not be wantin' your brolly.
2012, Audrey Howard, There is No Parting:I was apprehensive, feeling butterflies, pissed, the sun cracking the flags.
2005, Andrew Porter, Suicide Squad: The Inside Story of a Football Firm:Early summer sunshine threatened to crack the flags outside.
1998, Julia Wild, Blue Silk Promise, page 80:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| cracked the flags | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| cracked the flags | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| cracks the flags | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| cracking the flags | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic |