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flack

 [flak]   Example Sentences Origin

flack

1   [flak]
noun Sometimes Disparaging.
1.
press agent.
2.
publicity.
verb (used without object)
3.
to serve as a press agent or publicist: to flack for a new rock group.

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Flack is one of our favorite verbs.
So is lollygag. Does it mean:
to spend time idly; loaf.
to bark; yelp.
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verb (used with object)
4.
to promote; publicize: to flack a new record.
Origin:
1935–40; said to be after Gene Flack, a movie publicity agent
Example Sentences
  • We're all accustomed to catching flack for our work.
  • They want to primary some rich guy in a suit who serves as a flack for the financial industry.
  • We also got a bit of flack on another occasion for including an attempt to do cladistics on sea monster reports.
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Dictionary.com Unabridged

flack

2   [flak]
noun
flak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To Flack
Collins
World English Dictionary
flack1 (flæk)
 
—n
chiefly (US), (Canadian) a press or publicity agent
 
[C20: of unknown origin]

flack2 (flæk)
 
—n
a variant spelling of flak

flak or flack (flæk)
 
—n
1.  anti-aircraft fire or artillery
2.  informal a great deal of adverse criticism
 
[C20: from German Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone), literally: aircraft defence gun]
 
flack or flack
 
—n
 
[C20: from German Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone), literally: aircraft defence gun]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

flack
"publicity or press agent," 1946, said to have been coined in show biz magazine "Variety" (but this is not the first attested use), supposedly from name of Gene Flack, a movie agent, but influenced by flak.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

flack (out) definition


  1. in.
    to collapse in exhaustion; to go to sleep. : Betsy flacked out at nine every night.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source

flak definition

[flæk]
and flack
  1. n.
    complaints; criticism; negative feedback. (Originally referred to antiaircraft guns and the explosions and damage they caused. The first form is an initialism from German Fliegerabwehrkanonen = flyer defense cannons. I.e., the initial fl plus the first a plus the k.) : Why do I have to get all the flak for what you did?
  2. n.
    publicity; hype. : Who is going to believe this flack about being first-rate?
  3. n.
    a public relations agent or officer. : The flak made an announcement and then disappeared.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
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