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flack

 - 10 dictionary results

flack

1  [flak]
Use flack in a Sentence
–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.
–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

flack

2  [flak]
–noun
flak.

flak

  [flak]
–noun
1. antiaircraft fire, esp. as experienced by the crews of combat airplanes at which the fire is directed.
2. criticism; hostile reaction; abuse: Such an unpopular decision is bound to draw a lot of flak from the press.
Also, flack.

Origin:
1935–40; < G Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone) antiaircraft gun, equiv. to Flieger aircraft (lit., flyer) + Abwehr defense + Kanone gun, cannon
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flack
flack 1   (flāk)   
n.  A press agent; a publicist.
v.   flacked, flack·ing, flacks

v.   intr.
To act as a press agent: flacking for a movie studio.
v.   tr.
To act as a press agent for; promote: authors who tour the country flacking their books.

[Origin unknown.]
flack'er·y n.
flack 2   (flāk)   
n.  Variant of flak.
flak also flack   (flāk)   
n.  

    1. Antiaircraft artillery.

    2. The bursting shells fired from such artillery.

    3. Excessive or abusive criticism.

    4. Dissension; opposition.

  2. Informal

    1. Excessive or abusive criticism.

    2. Dissension; opposition.


[German, from Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone), aircraft-defense gun.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Slang Dictionary
flack (out)

  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.
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flak [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.
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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 (q.v.).

flak 
1938, from Ger. Flak, acronym for Fliegerabwehrkanone "airplane defense cannon." Sense of "anti-aircraft fire" is 1940; metaphoric sense of "criticism" is c.1963 in Amer.Eng.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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