flake /fleɪk/noun 13verb 6forms 3phrases 3 noun13 •A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anythingThere were a few flakes of paint on the floor from when we were painting the walls. •A scale of a fish or similar animal •A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone. •(informal) A person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living.She makes pleasant conversation, but she's kind of a flake when it comes time for action. •(UK) Dogfish. •(Australia) The meat of the gummy shark.Susan said, ‘Get me a piece of flake and a serve of chips.’ — 2002 •A wire rack for drying fish. •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. — 1613 •(US, slang) A corrupt arrest, e.g. to extort money for release or merely to fulfil a quota. •A carnation with only two colours in the flower, the petals having large stripes. •A flat turn or tier of rope.Admiral: What mean you by flakes? Captain: They are only those several circles or rounds of the roapes or cables, that are quoiled up round. — 1634 •A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on while calking, etc. •(dialect, UK) A paling; a hurdle. verb6 •To break or chip off in a flake.The paint flaked off after only a year. •(informal) To prove unreliable or impractical; to abandon or desert, to fail to follow through.He said he'd come and help, but he flaked. •To store an item such as rope or sail in layersThe line is flaked into the container for easy attachment and deployment. •To lay out on a flake for drying. •(US, slang) To plant evidence to facilitate a corrupt arrest. •(Ireland, slang) To hit (another person). formsflaked · flaking · flakes Phrases with flake flake downTo go to bed; to go to sleep. flake offTo (cause to) come off in flakes. flake outTo fall asleep from exhaustion or intoxication; to lie down.
