different between flask vs flak

English

Etymology

From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flasc? (“bottle”); from Frankish *flasko, *flaska; whence also Dutch fles; both from Proto-Germanic *flask? (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”) (whence also German Low German Flaske, Fless, German Flasche), from Proto-Indo-European *plo?-sk? (“flat”) (whence also Lithuanian plókš?ias, Czech ploský, Albanian flashkët).

Sense 2 from Italian fiasco and sense 3 from Middle French flasque (“powder flask”), itself from Old Spanish flasco, frasco, both from Late Latin above.

Pronunciation

• enPR: fläsk, IPA^(key): /fl??sk/
• enPR: fl?sk, IPA^(key): /flæsk/
• Rhymes: -æsk

Noun

flask (plural flasks)

1. A narrow-necked vessel of metal or glass, used for various purposes; as of sheet metal, to carry gunpowder in; or of wrought iron, to contain quicksilver; or of glass, to heat water in, etc.
2. A container used to discreetly carry a small amount of a hard alcoholic beverage; a pocket flask.
3. (sciences) Laboratory glassware used to hold larger volumes than test tubes, normally having a narrow mouth of a standard size which widens to a flat or spherical base.
4. (engineering) A container for holding a casting mold, especially for sand casting molds.
5. A bed in a gun carriage.

   (The addition of quotations indicative of this usage is being sought:)

Translations

Verb

flask (third-person singular simple present flasks, present participle flasking, simple past and past participle flasked)

1. (dentistry) To invest a denture in a flask so as to produce a sectional mold.

Anagrams

• falks, flaks

Danish

Verb

flask

1. imperative of flaske

Dutch

Etymology

From French flasque (“flask”). Doublette with (native) fles (“bottle”), (through French) flacon (“flagon”) and (through Italian) fiasco (“fiasco”).

Noun

flask f (plural flasken, diminutive flaskje n)

1. flask

Middle English

Alternative forms

• flaske

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman flascon, from Frankish *flaska, from Proto-Germanic *flask?. Also reinforced by existing Old English flasce, also from Proto-Germanic *flask?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?flask(?)/

Noun

flask (plural flaskes)

1. (rare) A small barrel for beer storage.
2. (rare) A container for the storage of garments.

Descendants

• English: flask
• Scots: flask, flas

References

• “flask, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2018-05-04.

Old Frisian

Alternative forms

• fl?sk

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *flaiski. Cognates include Old English fl?s? and Old Saxon fl?sk.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?fla?sk/

Noun

fl?sk n

1. flesh

Descendants

• North Frisian:

  Mooring: flååsch

• Saterland Frisian: Flaask

References

• Bremmer, Rolf H. (2009) An Introduction to Old Frisian: History, Grammar, Reader, Glossary, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, ?ISBN, page 28

English

Alternative forms

• flack (adverse criticism and spokesperson senses)

Etymology

Borrowed from German FlaK, short for Fliegerabwehrkanone (“anti aeroplane cannon”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæk/
• Rhymes: -æk
• Homophone: flack

Noun

flak (countable and uncountable, plural flaks)

1. Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells. [from 1938]

   Synonyms: ack-ack, AAA, triple-A

   • 1964, David John Cawdell Irving, The Destruction of Dresden, page 74,

     […] to consider whether the city was in February 1945 an undefended city within the meaning of the 1907 Hague Convention, it will be necessary to examine the establishment and subsequent total dispersal of the city's flak batteries, before the date of the triple blow.

   • 2007, Samuel W. Mitcham, Jr., Retreat to the Reich: The German Defeat in France, 1944, footnote, page 30,

     He was promoted to general of flak artillery on March 1, 1945, and ended the war as the general of the flak arm at OKL, the High Command of the Luftwaffe.

2. Anti-aircraft shell fire. [from 1940]

   Synonym: ack-ack

   • 1943 November 29, Target: Germany, in Life, page 80,

     At 1057 we were just over the islands and at 1100 the tail gunner reported flak at six o'clock, below.

   • 1984, Steve Harris, "Aces High", Iron Maiden, Powerslave.

   • 1999, Brian O'Neill, Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer, page 118,

     I could hear the fragments from the flak shells hitting the plane like someone throwing rocks at it.

3. (figuratively, informal) Adverse criticism. [from 1963]
   • 1990, Joel H. Spring, The American School, 1642-1990, page 380,

     This filter Herman and Chomsky call “flak,” which refers to letters, speeches, phone calls, and other forms of group and individual complaints. Advertisers and broadcasters avoid programming content that might cause large volumes of flak.
4. (informal) A public-relations spokesperson.
   • 2006, Edward Herman, Noam Chomsky, A Propaganda Model, in 2006 [2001], Meenakshi Gigi Durham, Douglas Kellner (editors), Media and Cultural Studies: Keyworks, revised edition, page 277,

     AIM head, Reed Irvine's diatribes are frequently published, and right-wing network flaks who regularly assail the “liberal media,” such as Michael Ledeen, are given Op-ed column space, sympathetic reviews, and a regular place on talk shows as experts.

Translations

See also

• flak jacket

Anagrams

• KLFA, falk

Albanian

Etymology

From Proto-Albanian *awa-laka, from Proto-Indo-European *lek- (“to jump, scuttle”) (compare Norwegian lakka (“to hop, patter about”), Latvian lèkt (“to spring, jump”), Ancient Greek ????? (l?ká?, “to dance to music”).

Verb

flak (first-person singular past tense flaka, participle flakur)

1. to throw, hurl, toss, fling off
2. to smack
3. (figuratively) to cast off, eject
4. (figuratively) to renounce, reject

Related terms

• fletë

References

Icelandic

Etymology

Borrowed through German flach (“flat”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flakaz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fla?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Noun

flak n (genitive singular flaks, nominative plural flök)

1. wreck
2. filet, (UK) fillet (of fish)

Declension

Synonyms

• (wreck): rekald n
• (a fish fillet): flak af fiski n

Derived terms

• flaka

See also

• lundir (of beef etc.)

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Old Norse flaga, flak

Noun

flak n (definite singular flaket, indefinite plural flak, definite plural flaka or flakene)

1. a flake
2. floe (of ice)
3. tail (of a garment; coat tail, shirt tail)

Derived terms

• isflak

References

• “flak” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “flak_3” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).
• “flak_2” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Old Norse flaga, flak. Akin to English flake.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fl??k/

Noun

flak n (definite singular flaket, indefinite plural flak, definite plural flaka)

1. a flake
2. floe (of ice)
3. tail (of a garment; coat tail, shirt tail)

Derived terms

• isflak
• snøflak

References

• “flak” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Plautdietsch

Adjective

flak

1. shallow (not deep)

Polish

Etymology

From Middle High German vlëcke.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flak/

Noun

flak m inan

1. sausage casing made from animal intestine
2. (informal) flat tire
3. (colloquial) innard, entrail

Declension

Related terms

• flaki

Further reading

• flak in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed through German flach (“flat”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *flakaz.

Noun

flak n

1. a flat object, a floe, a flatbed
2. a bed, the (open) cargo area of a vehicle (e.g. truck, lorry, pickup truck, dump truck, tip truck)

Declension

Related terms

• flakbil
• flakcykel
• flakmoped
• isflak
• lastbilsflak
• tippflak

Anagrams

• falk