Sc. [Possibly repr. OE. fleard trifle: see FLERD. But cf. Du. flarden splinters, shivers.] ‘Anything that is thin and insufficient, as a thin piece of cake, board, etc.’; ‘any thing viewed as a gaudy toy’; in plural, ‘worn-out clothes,’ ‘vain finery’ (Jam.).
1788. E. Picken, Poems, 62. Thae flirds o’ silk, brought owre the seas.
