Standard Lemma guide

flense

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈflɛns/
  • [ˈfl̥ɛns]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • /ˈflɪns/ Southern US, Appalachia, African-American Vernacular
  • [ˈfl̥ɪ̟ns] Southern US, Appalachia, African-American Vernacular
  • rhymes with -ɛns

1

verb

Meaning 1

To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: flay, fleece, skin

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

strip the blubber or skin from (a whale or seal)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: get rid of, remove

History

Etymology

Borrowed from Danish flense (now spelled flænse).

Across languages

Translations

12 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Armenian: մաշկել (maškel) — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Armenian: քերթել (kʻertʻel) — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Armenian: մորթել (mortʻel) — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Danish: flænse — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Finnish: nylkeä — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • German: flensen — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Greenlandic: pilappoq — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Low German: flinsen — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Norwegian Bokmål: flense — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: flense — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Russian: сдирать (sdiratʹ) — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc
  • Swedish: flänsa — To strip the blubber or skin from, as from a whale, seal, etc