FLAKE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Flake

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/fleɪk/ Listen

noun

Flake n.

1.

A paling; a hurdle. (prov. Eng.)

2.

A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things. "You shall also, after they be ripe, neither suffer them to have straw nor fern under them, but lay them either upon some smooth table, boards, or flakes of wands, and they will last the longer."

3.

(Naut.) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on in calking, etc.

Flake n.

1.

A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, tallow, or fish. "Lottle flakes of scurf." "Great flakes of ice encompassing our boat."

2.

A little particle of lighted or incandescent matter, darted from a fire; a flash. "With flakes of ruddy fire."

3.

(Bot.) A sort of carnation with only two colors in the flower, the petals having large stripes.

4.

A person who behaves strangely; a flaky (2) person. (Colloq.)

Flake knife (Archaeol.), a cutting instrument used by savage tribes, made of a flake or chip of hard stone.

Flake stand, the cooling tub or vessel of a still worm.

Flake white. (Paint.)

(a)

The purest white lead, in the form of flakes or scales.

(b)

The trisnitrate of bismuth.

Flake n. A flat layer, or fake, of a coiled cable. "Flake after flake ran out of the tubs, until we were compelled to hand the end of our line to the second mate."

verb

Flake v. t. (past & past part. flaked; pres. part. flaking) To form into flakes.

Flake v. i. To separate in flakes; to peel or scale off.

See images of 'Flake'

Etymology of 'Flake'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Flake" Quotes from Famous Books

... it did little good. Previous experience with pyrethrum was not very satisfactory. Knowing the volatility of naphthalene in warm weather and the irritating character of its vapor led me to try it. I took one room at a time, scattered on the floor five pounds of flake naphthalene and closed it for twenty-four hours. On entering such a room the naphthalene vapor will instantly bring tears to the eyes and cause coughing and irritation of the air passages. I mention this to show how it acts on the ...

— Insects and Diseases - A Popular Account of the Way in Which Insects may Spread - or Cause some of our Common Diseases • Rennie W. Doane

... distance. The shore, which was very much indented, consisted of a beautiful soft golden sand, mixed with small shells, the long-deserted home of some of the creatures of a past age. The waves broke incessantly—and with a peculiarly sonorous murmur, to be found in underground localities. A slight frothy flake arose as the wind blew along the pellucid waters; and many a dash of spray was blown into my face. The mighty superstructure of rock which rose above to an inconceivable height left only a narrow opening—but where we stood, ...

— A Journey to the Centre of the Earth • Jules Verne

... the starboard how, and warn other vessels off the course, the Medway on the port, and the Albany on the starboard quarter, to drop or pick up buoys, and make themselves generally useful. Despite the fickleness of the weather, and a 'foul flake,' or clogging of the line as it ran out of the tank, there was no interruption of the work. The 'old coffee mill,' as the sailors dubbed the paying-out gear, kept grinding away. 'I believe we shall do it this time, Jack,' said one of the crew to ...

— Heroes of the Telegraph • J. Munro

... When bright snow-flake-petaled daisy, Whose heart of yellow gold, Is richer vein of pure delight Than miner-kings may hold, Sends out her invitation warm, To search in her domain For berries like a bleeding ...

— Our Profession and Other Poems • Jared Barhite

... here and there a foamy flake Upon me, as I travel, With many a silvery waterbreak Above the ...

— Six Centuries of English Poetry - Tennyson to Chaucer • James Baldwin

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