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flak

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flak

   [flak]
noun
1.
antiaircraft fire, especially 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; < German Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone) antiaircraft gun, equivalent to Flieger aircraft (literally, flyer) + Abwehr defense + Kanone gun, cannon

Can be confused: flack, flak.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Flak is always a great word to know.
So is bezoar. Does it mean:
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
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Example Sentences
  • The plane was still flying through a stream of flak as he reasoned it out.
  • Men occasionally take flak for putting too much of a premium on their own appearance.
  • Naturally it was the foreign company that took all the flak.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
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

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, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

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.
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