fluke
1the part of an anchor that catches in the ground, especially the flat triangular piece at the end of each arm.
a barb, or the barbed head, of a harpoon, spear, arrow, or the like.
either half of the triangular tail of a whale.
Origin of fluke
1Words Nearby fluke
Other definitions for fluke (2 of 3)
an accidental advantage; stroke of good luck: He got the job by a fluke.
an accident or chance happening.
an accidentally successful stroke, as in billiards.
Origin of fluke
2Other definitions for fluke (3 of 3)
any of several American flounders of the genus Paralichthys, especially P. dentatus, found in the Atlantic Ocean.
any of various other flatfishes.
a trematode.
Origin of fluke
3Other words from fluke
- flukeless, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fluke in a sentence
Still, DoorDash must prove that its growth during the pandemic was no fluke.
In 1989 a meteorological fluke helped Ken Lohmann, a biologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, confirm that hatchlings use waves as a guide.
How Sea Turtles Find Their Way - Issue 94: Evolving | Jason G. Goldman | December 16, 2020 | NautilusThese were not flukes, either — San Diego and Chicago finished the season ranked Nos.
What To Watch For In The Wildest MLB Playoffs Ever | Neil Paine (neil.paine@fivethirtyeight.com) | September 28, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightRepublicans think Brindisi’s win was a fluke, and now he has a record they can wield to try to pin him as a standard Democrat.
The House seats most likely to flip in November | Amber Phillips | September 25, 2020 | Washington PostFor me, that is a lot of similar results for this to be a fluke.
I’m an epidemiologist and a dad. Here’s why I think schools should reopen. | Benjamin P. Linas | July 9, 2020 | Vox
In 1989, a newly registered Republican in Louisiana named David Duke won his only election by a fluke.
It was a cheer that we got for something that was a complete fluke.
‘No Regrets’: Peter Jackson Says Goodbye to Middle-Earth | Alex Suskind | December 4, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST“Sandra fluke Aborts Congressional Bid,” read another headline on Breitbart after fluke opted to run instead for the state Senate.
Sandra Fluke, Still Under Attack, Heads to California General Election | Olivia Nuzzi | June 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTFrom the moment the word was out that fluke was considering a run for office, she was the subject of right-wing side-eye.
Sandra Fluke, Still Under Attack, Heads to California General Election | Olivia Nuzzi | June 5, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTHaving her as our guest was a fluke of Divine Order and a true example of Ask and You shall receive.
We anchored on the north side of the former, but broke the fluke, from the rocky nature of the bottom.
(a) Flatworms are sometimes parasitic, examples being the tapeworm and liver fluke.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterSuch is seen in the life history of the liver fluke, a flatworm which kills sheep, and in the tapeworm.
A Civic Biology | George William HunterIf I thought he meant the boy any harm he'd get his nose rove foul in the shake of a fluke.
fluke worms, therefore, can never be regarded as a cause of rot, they must be looked upon merely as a symptom.
A Treatise on Sheep: | Ambrose Blacklock
British Dictionary definitions for fluke (1 of 3)
/ (fluːk) /
Also called: flue a flat bladelike projection at the end of the arm of an anchor
either of the two lobes of the tail of a whale or related animal
Also called: flue the barb or barbed head of a harpoon, arrow, etc
Origin of fluke
1British Dictionary definitions for fluke (2 of 3)
/ (fluːk) /
an accidental stroke of luck
any chance happening
(tr) to gain, make, or hit by a fluke
Origin of fluke
2British Dictionary definitions for fluke (3 of 3)
/ (fluːk) /
any parasitic flatworm, such as the blood fluke and liver fluke, of the classes Monogenea and Digenea (formerly united in a single class Trematoda)
another name for flounder 2 (def. 1)
Origin of fluke
3Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for fluke
[ flōōk ]
Either of the two flattened fins of a whale's tail.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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