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flake - 14 dictionary results

flake

1  [fleyk] noun, verb, flaked, flak⋅ing.
Use flake in a Sentence
–noun
1. a small, flat, thin piece, esp. one that has been or become detached from a larger piece or mass: flakes of old paint.
2. any small piece or mass: a flake of snow.
3. a stratum or layer.
4. Slang. an eccentric person; screwball.
5. Slang. cocaine.
6. a usually broad, often irregular piece of stone struck from a larger core and sometimes retouched to form a flake tool.
–verb (used without object)
7. to peel off or separate in flakes.
8. to fall in flakes, as snow.
–verb (used with object)
9. to remove in flakes.
10. to break flakes or chips from; break into flakes: to flake fish for a casserole.
11. to cover with or as if with flakes.
12. to form into flakes.
Origin:
1350–1400; (n.) ME; akin to OE flac- in flacox flying (said of arrows), ON flakka to rove, wander, MD vlacken to flutter; (in def. 4) by back formation from flaky, in sense “eccentric, odd”; (v.) late ME: to fall in flakes, deriv. of the n.

Related forms:
flakeless, adjective
flaker, noun

flake

2  [fleyk]
–noun
a frame, as for drying fish.
Origin:
1300–50; ME flake, fleke < ON flaki, fleki bridge, hurdle

flake

3  [fleyk] noun, verb, flaked, flak⋅ing. Nautical
–noun
1. fake 2 (defs. 1, 2).
–verb (used with object)
2. fake 2 (def. 3).
3. to lower (a fore-and-aft sail) so as to drape the sail equally on both sides over its boom.
Origin:
1620–30; appar. var. of fake 2

flake

4  [fleyk]
–verb, flaked, flak⋅ing. flake out, Slang.
to fall asleep; take a nap.
Origin:
1935–40; perh. expressive var. of flag 3 ; cf. Brit. dial. flack to hang loosely, flap

fake

2  [feyk] verb, faked, fak⋅ing, noun Nautical
–verb (used with object)
1. to lay (a rope) in a coil or series of long loops so as to allow to run freely without fouling or kinking (often fol. by down).
–noun
2. any complete turn of a rope that has been faked down.
3. any of the various ways in which a rope may be faked down.
Also, flake.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME faken to coil (a rope), of obscure orig.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To flake
flake 1   (flāk)   
n.  
  1. A flat thin piece or layer; a chip.
  2. Archaeology A stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by percussion or pressure, serving as a preform or as a tool or blade itself.
  3. A small piece; a bit.
  4. A small crystalline bit of snow.
  5. Slang A somewhat eccentric person; an oddball.
  6. Slang Cocaine.
v.   flaked, flak·ing, flakes

v.   tr.
  1. To remove a flake or flakes from; chip.
  2. To cover, mark, or overlay with or as if with flakes.
v.   intr.
To come off in flat thin pieces or layers; chip off.
Phrasal Verb(s):
flake out Slang
  1. To fall asleep or collapse from fatigue or exhaustion.
  2. To act in an odd or eccentric manner.
  3. To lose interest or nerve.

[Middle English; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.]
flak'er n.
flake 2   (flāk)   
n.  
  1. A frame or platform for drying fish or produce.
  2. A scaffold lowered over the side of a ship to support workers or caulkers.

[Middle English fleke, from Old Norse fleki, hurdle, shield used for defense in battle; see plāk-1 in Indo-European roots.]
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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Flake

Flake\ (fl[=a]k), n. [Cf. Icel. flaki, fleki, Dan. flage, D. vlaak.]

1. A paling; a hurdle. [prov. Eng.]

2. A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things.

You shall also, after they be ripe, neither suffer them to have straw nor fern under them, but lay them either upon some smooth table, boards, or flakes of wands, and they will last the longer. --English Husbandman.

3. (Naut.) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on in calking, etc.

Flake

Flake\ (fl[=a]k), n. [Cf. Icel. flakna to flake off, split, flagna to flake off, Sw. flaga flaw, flake, flake plate, Dan. flage snowflake. Cf. Flag a flat stone.]

1. A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, tallow, or fish. "Lottle flakes of scurf." --Addison.

Great flakes of ice encompassing our boat. --Evelyn.

2. A little particle of lighted or incandescent matter, darted from a fire; a flash.

With flakes of ruddy fire. --Somerville.

3. (Bot.) A sort of carnation with only two colors in the flower, the petals having large stripes.

Flake knife (Arch[ae]ol.), a cutting instrument used by savage tribes, made of a flake or chip of hard stone. --Tylor.

Flake stand, the cooling tub or vessel of a still worm. --Knight.

Flake white. (Paint.) (a) The purest white lead, in the form of flakes or scales. (b) The trisnitrate of bismuth. --Ure.

Flake

Flake\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Flaking.] To form into flakes. --Pope.

Flake

Flake\, v. i. To separate in flakes; to peel or scale off.

Flake

Flake\, n. [Etym. uncertain; cf. 1st Fake.] A flat layer, or fake, of a coiled cable.

Flake after flake ran out of the tubs, until we were compelled to hand the end of our line to the second mate. --F. T. Bullen.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : flake
Spanish: copo,
German: die Flocke,
Japanese: 薄片
More Translations »

flake  (n.)
c.1330, possibly from O.E. *flacca "flakes of snow," from O.N. flak "loose or torn piece" (related to O.N. fla "to skin," see flay), from P.Gmc. *flak- (cf. M.Du. vlac "flat, level," M.H.G. vlach, Ger. Flocke "flake"); from the same PIE root as L. plaga "a flat surface, district, region." Flaky "eccentric, crazy" first recorded 1959, said to be Amer.Eng. baseball slang, but probably from earlier druggie slang flake "cocaine" (1920s). Flake "eccentric person" is a 1968 back-formation from flaky.
"The term 'flake' needs explanation. It's an insider's word, used throughout baseball, usually as an adjective; someone is considered 'flaky.' It does not mean anything so crude as 'crazy,' but it's well beyond 'screwball' and far off to the side of 'eccentric.' " ["New York Times," April 26, 1964]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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flake   (flāk)  Pronunciation Key 
  1. A relatively thin, sharp-edged stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by striking or prying, serving as a tool or blade itself or as a blank for making other tools. See more at flake tool.
  2. A small, symmetrical, six-sided crystal of snow. Flakes can be large or small and wet or dry, depending on weather conditions. They are white in color because of their large number of reflecting surfaces.

The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved.
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