flesh

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

• noun The soft tissue of the body of a vertebrate, covering the bones and consisting mainly of skeletal muscle and fat.
• noun Such tissue of an animal, used as food.
• noun The surface or skin of the human body.
• noun Fatty tissue.
• noun Botany The pulpy, usually edible part of a fruit or vegetable.
• noun The human body.
• noun Sensual appetites.
• noun Substance; reality.
• intransitive verb To give substance or detail to; fill out. Often used with out:
• intransitive verb To clean (a hide) of adhering flesh.
• intransitive verb To encourage (a falcon, for example) to participate in the chase by feeding it flesh from a kill.
• intransitive verb To plunge or thrust (a weapon) into flesh.
• intransitive verb Archaic To inure (troops, for instance) to battle or bloodshed.
• intransitive verb To become plump or fleshy; gain weight.
• idiom (go the way of all flesh) To die.
• idiom (go the way of all flesh) To come to an end.
• idiom (in the flesh) Alive.
• idiom (in the flesh) In person; present.

from The Century Dictionary.

• To feed full with flesh, and hence with fleshly enjoyments, spoil, etc.
• To encourage by giving flesh to; initiate to the taste of flesh: with reference to the practice of training hawks and dogs by feeding them with the first game they take, or other flesh; hence, to introduce or incite to battle or carnage.
• In leather manufacturing, to remove flesh, fat, and loose membrane from the flesh side of, as skins and hides.
• To clothe with flesh; make fleshy.
• To become more fleshy, as one who has been ill and is convalescent: used with up.
• noun A substance forming a large part of an animal body, consisting of the softer solids which constitute muscle and fat, as distinguished from the bones, the skin, the membranes, and the fluids; in the most restricted sense, muscular tissue alone.
• noun Animal food, in distinction from vegetable; in the most restricted sense, the substance of beasts and fowls used as food, as distinguished from fish.
• noun The body, as distinguished from the soul; the corporeal person.
• noun Man, or the human race; mankind; humanity.
• noun Man's animal or physical nature, as distinguished from or opposed to his moral or spiritual nature; the body as the seat of appetite: a Biblical use: as, to mortify the flesh.
• noun Kindred; stock; family; near relative or relatives.
• noun In botany, the soft cellular or pulpy substance of a fruit or vegetable, as distinguished from the kernel or core, skin, shell, etc.
• noun In Scripture, to be under the control of the animal nature: opposed to spiritual.
• Consisting of animal substance not fish: as, a flesh diet.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

• transitive verb To feed with flesh, as an incitement to further exertion; to initiate; -- from the practice of training hawks and dogs by feeding them with the first game they take, or other flesh. Hence, to use upon flesh (as a murderous weapon) so as to draw blood, especially for the first time.
• transitive verb To glut; to satiate; hence, to harden, to accustom.
• transitive verb (Leather Manufacture) To remove flesh, membrance, etc., from, as from hides.
• noun The aggregate of the muscles, fat, and other tissues which cover the framework of bones in man and other animals; especially, the muscles.
• noun Animal food, in distinction from vegetable; meat; especially, the body of beasts and birds used as food, as distinguished from fish.
• noun The human body, as distinguished from the soul; the corporeal person.
• noun The human eace; mankind; humanity.
• noun Human nature.
• noun In a good sense, tenderness of feeling; gentleness.
• noun In a bad sense, tendency to transient or physical pleasure; desire for sensual gratification; carnality.
• noun (Theol.) The character under the influence of animal propensities or selfish passions; the soul unmoved by spiritual influences.
• noun Kindred; stock; race.
• noun The soft, pulpy substance of fruit; also, that part of a root, fruit, and the like, which is fit to be eaten.
• noun after the manner of man; in a gross or earthly manner.
• noun human strength or aid.
• noun See under Blood.