flake

[ fleyk ]

/ fleɪk /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR flake ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a small, flat, thin piece, especially one that has been or become detached from a larger piece or mass: flakes of old paint.

any small piece or mass: a flake of snow.

a stratum or layer.

Slang. an eccentric person; screwball.

Slang. cocaine.

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), flaked, flak·ing.

to peel off or separate in flakes.

to fall in flakes, as snow.

verb (used with object), flaked, flak·ing.

to remove in flakes.

to break flakes or chips from; break into flakes: to flake fish for a casserole.

to cover with or as if with flakes.

to form into flakes.

Nearby words

flail joint, flair, flak, flak jacket, flak suit, flake, flake out, flake tool, flake white, flakeboard, flakelet

Origin of flake

1350–1400; (noun) Middle English; akin to Old English flac- in flacox flying (said of arrows), Old Norse flakka to rove, wander, Middle Dutch vlacken to flutter; (in def 4) by back formation from flaky, in sense “eccentric, odd”; (v.) late Middle English: to fall in flakes, derivative of the noun

Related forms

flake·less, adjectiveflak·er, noun

Definition for flake (2 of 4)

flake

[ fleyk ]

/ fleɪk /

noun

a frame, as for drying fish.

Origin of flake

1300–50; Middle English flake, fleke < Old Norse flaki, fleki bridge, hurdle

Definition for flake (3 of 4)

flake

[ fleyk ]

/ fleɪk /

Nautical

noun

fake²(defs 2, 3).

verb (used with object), flaked, flak·ing.

fake²(def 1).

to lower (a fore-and-aft sail) so as to drape the sail equally on both sides over its boom.

Origin of flake

First recorded in 1620–30; apparently variant of fake²

Definition for flake (4 of 4)

flake

⁴

[ fleyk ]

/ fleɪk /

verb, flaked, flak·ing.

flake out, Slang. to fall asleep; take a nap.

Origin of flake

⁴

1935–40; perhaps expressive variant of flag³; compare British dialect flack to hang loosely, flap

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for flake

The 2014 midterm elections are just months behind us, but already Flake feels the pressure of the 2016 presidential elections.
Can This Republican Bring the GOP Back to Its Senses on Immigration?|Tim Mak|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
And Flake, who recently voted for the Violence Against Women Act, might have a hard time winning some women to his fold.
Dr. Richard Carmona Faces a Tough Race as the Democratic Candidate for Senate in Arizona|Terry Greene Sterling|May 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
And over the weekend, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace asked Bachmann if she was a “flake.”
Michele Bachmann: Don't Call Her a Feminist|Kirsten Powers|June 29, 2011|DAILY BEAST
Michele Bachmann is a “delusional, paranoid zealot,” a “flake.”
Bachmann’s No Joke|Mark McKinnon|June 27, 2011|DAILY BEAST

If they wait, the conventional wisdom that Flake can't lose will become entrenched, says Sabato.
The Democrats' Giffords Senate Puzzle|David A. Graham|April 26, 2011|DAILY BEAST
For commercial purposes the English method of making the spawn into bricks has some advantages over the French "flake" process.
Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous|Thomas Taylor
All his natural blandness was burned out—scorched to a flake of ash.
Rayton: A Backwoods Mystery|Theodore Goodridge Roberts
The canvas is perfectly rotten, and the paint—if you stand here you'll see—is ready to flake off.
Checkmate|Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
Without jar or blow, a flake of glass flew off, as large as a fish scale.
Hunting with the Bow and Arrow|Saxton Pope
It is in the fog of the one as in the light of the other; and in the flake of snow as in the streak of flame effluvium is visible.
The Man Who Laughs|Victor Hugo

British Dictionary definitions for flake (1 of 4)

flake

/ (fleɪk) /

noun

a small thin piece or layer chipped off or detached from an object or substance; scale

a small piece or particlea flake of snow

a thin layer or stratum

archaeol

a fragment removed by chipping or hammering from a larger stone used as a tool or weaponSee also blade
(as modifier)flake tool

slang, mainly US an eccentric, crazy, or unreliable person

verb

to peel or cause to peel off in flakes; chip

to cover or become covered with or as with flakes

(tr) to form into flakes

Derived Forms

flaker, noun

Word Origin for flake

C14: of Scandinavian origin; compare Norwegian flak disc, Middle Dutch vlacken to flutter

British Dictionary definitions for flake (2 of 4)

flake

/ (fleɪk) /

noun

a rack or platform for drying fish or other produce

Word Origin for flake

C14: from Old Norse flaki; related to Dutch vlaak hurdle

British Dictionary definitions for flake (3 of 4)

flake

/ (fleɪk) /

verb

nautical another word for fake 1

British Dictionary definitions for flake (4 of 4)

flake

⁴

/ (fleɪk) /

noun

(in Australia) the commercial name for the meat of the gummy shark

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for flake

flake

[ flāk ]

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.

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.