flake
To break or chip off in a flakeTo break or chip off in a flake.
Recorded UK: Speaker: Vealhurl Recorder: Vealhurl, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons · Recorded US: Dvortygirl, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons
Translations
5 languagesBy meaning 1
Meaning
6 sensesTo break or chip off in a flake.
The paint flaked off after only a year.
облупи́тьсяoblupítʹsja
come off in flakes or thin small pieces
(colloquial)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 layers
The line is flaked into the container for easy attachment and deployment.
More meanings 3
To lay out on a flake for drying.
flake a fish
(Ireland, slang)To hit (another person).
(US, slang)To plant evidence to facilitate a corrupt arrest.
Origin
From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flFrom Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English flacca and/or Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”) (compare Old Norse flakna (“to flake or chip”)), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₂- (“flat, broad, plain”). Cognate with Norwegian flak (“slice, sliver”, literally “piece torn off”), Swedish flak (“a thin slice”), Danish flage (“flake”), German Flocke (“flake”), Dutch vlak (“smooth surface, plain”) and vlok (“flake”), as well as with Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”) and Welsh llech (“slate, tablet”). Doublet of plage.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
flakes, flaking, flaked, flakedTenses
flake · flaked · will flake · have flakedPhrasal verbs
3 phrasal verbsSynonyms
4 synonymsWord family
4 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle
See also
neighbours in the dictionaryDictionary text adapted from Wiktionary (Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Open English WordNet / Princeton WordNet (CC BY 4.0, WordNet License); shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Example sentences and recordings are credited where they appear.