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.
We’ve seen this before with the Stanley cup and Hydro Flask crazes, in which a rather mundane item becomes all the rage amongst consumers and, more infamously, resellers.
From Salon • May 11, 2025
According to the company, the average Hydro Flask purchaser ranges from teens to mid-30s and “live full and active lives.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024
Over at Santa Monica’s Third Street Promenade, Alfredo Torales, 39, sat outside during his lunch break with a black Hydro Flask.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 11, 2024
The maker of Oxo kitchen utensils and Hydro Flask mugs reported strong fiscal second-quarter financial results.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 5, 2022
It was a very handsome Flask, silver with gold stripes, and all at once I knew the young man would want it back.
From Bab: a Sub-Deb by Rinehart, Mary Roberts
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.
