flask
1 Americannoun
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a bottle, usually of glass, having a rounded body and a narrow neck, used especially in laboratory experimentation.
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a flat metal or glass bottle for carrying in the pocket.
a flask of brandy.
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an iron container for shipping mercury, holding a standard commercial unit of 76 pounds (34 kilograms).
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Metallurgy. a container into which sand is rammed around a pattern to form a mold.
noun
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the armored plates making up the sides of a gun-carriage trail.
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Obsolete. the bed of a gun carriage.
noun
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a bottle with a narrow neck, esp used in a laboratory or for wine, oil, etc
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Also called: hip flask. a small flattened container of glass or metal designed to be carried in a pocket, esp for liquor
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See powder flask
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a container packed with sand to form a mould in a foundry
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See vacuum flask
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Also called: cask. coffin. engineering a container used for transporting irradiated nuclear fuel
Etymology
Origin of flask1
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English: “cask, keg,” from Anglo-French, Old French flaske, Late Latin flasca, earlier flascō, of uncertain origin; compare Old English flasce, flaxe, Old High German flasca ( German flasche ); cf. flagon
Origin of flask2
1570–80; < dialectal French flasque cheek of a gun carriage < Late Latin flasca flask 1
Explanation
A flask is a small container that holds a liquid. Most flasks have a squarish body and a small neck for drinking or pouring. Don't try sneaking a flask into your tube sock. There are several different kinds of flasks, including a "hip flask," small enough to fit in a pocket, for carrying and surreptitiously sipping alcoholic beverages. Chemists use another type of flask in the laboratory, which has a wide bottom and a small mouth and is made of glass. And in Britain, a flask is also a vacuum-sealed container that keeps drinks hot, usually called a "Thermos" in the US.
Vocabulary lists containing flask
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Dollar Signs: I’m dating a guy who asks me to pay for most dates — and brings a flask to bars to save money.
From MarketWatch • May 18, 2026
He used to carry a tiny flask of it in his man purse to dribble onto meals at restaurants.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 18, 2024
A misterioso clairvoyant, Madame Web is a secondary Spider-Man character who met the web-weaver in the comics in 1980 while regally parked on a life-support system shaped like a round-bottom flask.
From New York Times • Feb. 14, 2024
Since developing the all-steel vacuum flask in 1913, the Stanley company has cultivated a particularly rugged, if not decidedly masculine, image.
From Salon • Jan. 11, 2024
He pulled a flask of nectar from his aviator jacket and poured a little on Hazel’s hands.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
