flake

[fleyk]

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.

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 formsflake·less, adjectiveflak·er, noun

flake

[fleyk]

noun

a frame, as for drying fish.

Origin of flake

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

flake

[fleyk]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

flake

⁴

[fleyk]

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

Related Words for flake

leaf, exfoliate, sliver, plate, layer, slice, sheet, wafer, section, skin, disk, lamina, cell, foil, membrane, drop, pellicle, lamella, scab, shaving

Examples from the Web for flake

Contemporary Examples of 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
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
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
Michele Bachmann is a “delusional, paranoid zealot,” a “flake.”
Bachmann’s No Joke
Mark McKinnon
June 27, 2011
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

Historical Examples of flake

The wind had ceased, but the snow was still falling, here and there a flake.
Heather and Snow
George MacDonald
The impending snow hung over the city but not a flake had fallen as yet.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
Presently, flake by flake, the first snow of winter drifted down.
Murder Point
Coningsby Dawson
For the first time in ten years at least, the Foam Flake ran away.
Fair Harbor
Joseph Crosby Lincoln
The Foam Flake was pretty nearly ready to come by this time.
Fair Harbor
Joseph Crosby Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for flake

flake

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 Formsflaker, noun

Word Origin for flake

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

flake

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

flake

verb

nautical another word for fake 1

flake

⁴

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

Word Origin and History for flake

"thin, flat piece," early 14c., possibly from Old English *flacca "flakes of snow," from Old Norse flak "loose or torn piece" (related to Old Norse fla "to skin," see flay), from Proto-Germanic *flago- (cf. Middle Dutch vlac, Dutch vlak "flat, level," Middle High German vlach, German Flocke "flake"); from PIE *plak- (1) "to be flat," extended form of root *pele- (2) "flat, to spread" (see plane (n.1)).

early 15c., "to fall in flakes," from flake (n.). Related: Flaked; flaking.

flake in Science

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.