What is "flake"

Flake \Flake\ (fl[=a]k), n. [Cf. Icel. flaki, fleki, Dan. flage, D. vlaak.]

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.
   --English Husbandman.

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

Flake \Flake\, n. [Etym. uncertain; cf. 1st Fake.] 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.
--F. T. Bullen.

Flake \Flake\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Flaked; p. pr. & vb. n. Flaking.] To form into flakes.
--Pope.

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

Flake \Flake\ (fl[=a]k), n. [Cf. Icel. flakna to flake off, split, flagna to flake off, Sw. flaga flaw, flake, flake plate, Dan. flage snowflake. Cf. Flag a flat stone.]

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.''
   --Addison.

   Great flakes of ice encompassing our boat.
   --Evelyn.

2. A little particle of lighted or incandescent matter, darted from a fire; a flash.

   With flakes of ruddy fire.
   --Somerville.

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. Flake knife (Arch[ae]ol.), a cutting instrument used by savage tribes, made of a flake or chip of hard stone. --Tylor. Flake stand, the cooling tub or vessel of a still worm. --Knight. Flake white. (Paint.)

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

   2. The trisnitrate of bismuth.
      --Ure.

"thin, flat piece of snow; a particle," early 14c., also flauke, flagge, which is of uncertain origin, possibly from Old English *flacca "flakes of snow," or from cognate Old Norse flak "loose or torn piece" (related to Old Norse fla "to skin;" see flay); or perhaps from Proto-Germanic *flago- (cognates: Middle Dutch vlac, Dutch vlak "flat, level," Middle High German vlach, German Flocke "flake"); from PIE *plak- (1) "to be flat" (see placenta). From late 14c. as "a speck, a spot."

early 15c., flaken, (of snow) "to fall in flakes," from flake (n.). Transitive meaning "break or peel off in flakes" is from 1620s; intransitive sense of "to come off in flakes" is from 1759. . Related: Flaked; flaking.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything; a film; flock; lamina; layer; scale; as, a flake of snow, paint, or fish. 2 (context archaeology English) A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone. 3 (context informal English) A person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living. 4 A carnation with only two colours in the flower, the petals having large stripes. vb. 1 To break or chip off in a flake. 2 (context colloquial English) To prove unreliable or impractical; to abandon or desert, to fail to follow through. 3 (context technical English) To store an item such as rope in layers 4 (context Ireland slang English) to hit (another person). Etymology 2

n. 1 (context UK English) dogfish. 2 (context Australia English) The meat of the gummy shark. Etymology 3

n. 1 (context UK dialect English) A paling; a hurdle. 2 A platform of hurdles, or small sticks made fast or interwoven, supported by stanchions, for drying codfish and other things. 3 (cx nautical English) A small stage hung over a vessel's side, for workmen to stand on while calking, etc. 4 (cx nautical English) (alt form fake English) (qualifier turn or coil of cable or hawser English)

1. v. form into flakes; "The substances started to flake"

2. cover with flakes or as if with flakes

3. come off in flakes or thin small pieces; "The paint in my house is peeling off" [syn: peel off, peel, flake off]

1. n. a crystal of snow [syn: snowflake]

2. a person with an unusual or odd personality [syn: eccentric, eccentric person, oddball, geek]

3. a small fragment of something broken off from the whole; "a bit of rock caught him in the eye" [syn: bit, chip, fleck, scrap]

Flake or Flakes may refer to:

Flake is a term used in Australia to indicate the flesh of any of several species of small shark, particularly the gummy shark. The term probably arose in the late 1920s when the large-scale commercial shark fishery off the coast of Victoria was established. Until that time, shark was generally an incidental catch rather than a targeted species.

Flake rapidly became popular. It has a mild flavour, a soft texture that nevertheless remains well-defined after cooking, and a clean white appearance. These qualities, combined with the ready supply and a low price, saw flake become by far the most common type of fish to be served in Australian fish and chip shops. Flake remains popular, but it is no longer especially cheap.

A special advantage is that flake has no bones, because sharks are cartilaginous.

Although the primary shark species sold as flake is the gummy shark, several others are listed below.

• Gummy shark, Mustelus antarcticus
• School shark, Galeorhinus galeus
• Elephant fish, Callorhinchus milii
• Whiskery shark, Furgaleus macki
• Australian blacktip shark, Carcharhinus tilstoni
• Sawshark (any of several Pristiophorus species)
• Various dog sharks (family Squalidae)
• Wobbegong (family Orectolobidae)

During the late 1960s it became apparent that larger individuals of several shark species were contaminated with high levels of heavy metals, particularly mercury, and a public outcry eventually led to a ban on the sale of large school sharks in 1972, which remained in effect until 1985.

In Britain, nursehound is often sold as flake.

Flake or a Vector Shape is a programming library that is used in Calligra Suite and the KOffice 2 series. Flake provides the basic concept of a "shape". To the end user a shape appears as some piece of content such as an image or a text. A shape can be in any form (square, circle, etc.) and contain any kind of media since the Shape is responsible for drawing itself. All components of KOffice are being overhauled to use Flake as much as possible.

Flake is a brand of chocolate bar currently manufactured by Cadbury Ireland and consists of thinly folded milk chocolate.

The product was first developed in 1920 and was serendipitously discovered by an employee of Cadburys who noticed thin streams of excess chocolate falling from molds and cooling into flaky folded bars.

Since 1922 in Britain, Australia, South Africa and Ireland ice cream vendors serve " 99 Flakes" which are vanilla soft serve ice cream in a wafer cone in which a half size Flake bar is inserted in the top. Screwballs are similar but have a plastic cone rather than a wafer.

"Flake" is a song written and sung by Jack Johnson. It is Johnson's debut single and was released as the only single from his album Brushfire Fairytales.

"Flake" features Ben Harper on Weissenborn slide guitar.

"Flake" was a minor success for Johnson in the United States, being his first entry on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 at number 73. It was a major success in New Zealand, reaching the top ten where it peaked at number 6. It remains Johnson's sole top 10 hit and his most successful single there.

Despite being only a minor success in the United States in chart position, peaking at number 22 on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart, it is a popular song in live performances and still garners radio airplay.