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flake

 - 11 dictionary results
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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
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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.
Cite This Source
Slang Dictionary
flake

  1. n.
    a person who acts silly or giddy. : Sally is such a flake!
  2. n.
    a medicinal form of crystallized cocaine. (Drugs. Similar to crack.) : Where can I get some flake around here?
  3. tv.
    [for the police] to place drugs or traces of drugs on a person during an arrest. (Underworld. The person is then charged with possession of drugs.) : That's not mine! You flaked me!
  4. n.
    and flakes. phencyclidine (PCP), an animal tranquilizer. : Even Shorty won't sell flake, and he's not what I would call a concerned citizen.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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flake (out)

  1. in.
    to pass out from exhaustion; to fall asleep. (See also flack (out).) : After jogging, I usually flake for a while.
  2. in.
    to fall asleep after drug use. (Drugs.) : An hour after she took the stuff, she just flaked.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
Word Origin & History

fake 
attested in London criminal slang as adj. (1775), verb (1812), and noun (1827), but probably older. Likely source is feague "to spruce up by artificial means," from Ger. fegen "polish, sweep," also "to clear out, plunder" in colloquial use. "Much of our early thieves' slang is Ger. or Du., and dates from the Thirty Years' War" [Weekley]. Or it may be from L. facere "to do."

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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