Meanings
- obsoleteSynonym of whitlow.
The pouder of the withered leues⸝ is good to be caſt vpon the whitflaw⸝ aguayles.
1562, Wylliam Turner [i.e., William Turner], “Of the Myrt Tre”, in The Second Parte of Guilliam Turners Herball⸝ […], Cologne: […] Arnold Birckman, →OCLC, folio 61, recto2 more examples
The useful stimulating qualities of these herbs as a cure for paronychia, may have been further recommended by the resemblance of the seed-pod to the " whiteflaw," or inflamed vesicle, which it was intended to allay.
1852, Richard Dowden, Walks after Wild Flowers; or The Botany of the Bohereens, page 105A cock is offered (at least was wont to be) to St Christopher in Touraine for a certaine sore which useth to be in the end of men's fingers, the whiteflaw” (World of Wonders, 1607). The cock was to be a white one.
1877, John Brand, Henry Ellis, Observations on Popular AntiquitiesSynonyms: whitlow
Synonyms & antonyms
nounSynonym of whitlow.
Cite this entry
whiteflaw. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whiteflaw
“whiteflaw.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whiteflaw. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “whiteflaw,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/whiteflaw.
Source: whiteflaw on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.