Flake Definition

flāk

flaked, flakes, flaking

noun

flakes

A thin piece or layer split off or peeled off from anything; chip.

Webster's New World

A stone fragment removed from a core or from another flake by percussion or pressure, serving as a preform or as a tool or blade itself.

American Heritage

A small, thin mass.

A flake of snow.

Webster's New World

An eccentric, unbalanced, or irrational person.

Webster's New World

A small crystalline bit of snow.

American Heritage

Synonyms:

verb

flaked, flakes, flaking

To form into flakes.

Webster's New World

To chip or peel off in flakes.

Webster's New World

To make or become spotted with flakes.

Webster's New World

To come off in flat thin pieces or layers.

American Heritage

Webster's New World

Synonyms:

idiom

flake out

Webster's New World

Other Word Forms of Flake

Singular:

flake

Plural:

flakes

From Middle English flake (“a flake of snow”), from Old English *flacca, from Old Norse flak (“loose or torn piece”), from Proto-Germanic *flaką (“something flat”), from Proto-Indo-European *pele- (“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”), Latin plaga (“flat surface, district, region”).

From Wiktionary
Middle English fleke from Old Norse fleki hurdle, shield used for defense in battle plāk-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
A name given to dogfish to improve its marketability as a food, perhaps from etymology 1.

From Wiktionary
Compare Icelandic flaki?, fleki?, Danish flage, Dutch vlaak.

From Wiktionary
Middle English plāk-¹ in Indo-European roots

From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition