fleak
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /fliːk/
ipa: /flik/
homophone: fleek
rhymes: -iːk
Forms: form: fleaks
Etymology: A variant of flake (noun, verb).
Senses: examples: text: The uſes indeed of the forenamed Plants are ſo univerſall, and take place ſo in every affaire of Man, that if it vvere lavvfull to be a little merry in ſo ſerious a matter, a man might not unfittingly apply that verſe of the Poet [Ovid, Epistulae ex Ponto (Letters from the Black Sea), book IV, 3-35] to this ſo generall a commodity; / Omnia ſunt homini tenui pendentia filo. / That all the buſineſſes of Men do very much depend upon theſe little long fleaks or threds of Hempe and Flaxa.
ref: 1653, Henry More, “Arguments of Divine Providence Drawn from the Usefulness of Plants”, in An Antidote against Atheisme, or An Appeal to the Natural Faculties of the Minde of Man, whether There Be Not a God, London: […] Roger Daniel, […], →OCLC, book II, page 73:
text: Above that Region the Wind blew at South-weſt by South, as appeared by ſome ſmall Fleaks of Clouds coming from that Quarter.
ref: 1741 January–March, Eustachio Zanotti, “VII. A Collection of the Observations of the Remarkable Red Lights Seen in the Air on Dec. 5. 1737. Sent from Different Places to the Royal Society. [3. Description of an Aurora Borealis Observed at the Observatory of the Institute of Bononia, the Night of the ⁵⁄₁₆ of December 1737. […]]”, in T. S., transl., Philosophical Transactions. Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours, of the Ingenious, in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XLI, part II, number 459, London: […] T. Woodward, and C. Davis, […] ; printers to the Royal Society, published 1744, →OCLC, page 600:
qualifier: obsolete except British
glosses: Synonym of flake.
A small, light piece that is only loosely joined to something else, and which has a tendency to detach.
examples: text: Plutarke alſo calleth this beaſt a meticulous and fearefull beaſt, and in this cauſe concludeth the change of his colour, not as ſome ſay, to auoyde and deceiue the beholders and to vvorke out his ovvne happineuſſe, but for meere dread and terrour. […] But I for my part doe aſſigne the true cauſe to bee in the thinneſſe of their skinne, and therefore may eaſily take impreſſion of any colour, like to a thin fleake of a horne, vvhich being layde ouer blacke, ſeemeth blacke, and ſo ouer other colours: […]
ref: 1608, Edward Topsell, “Of the Chamæleon”, in The Historie of Serpents. Or, The Second Booke of Liuing Creatures: […], London: […] William Jaggard, →OCLC, page 116:
text: Now, it is very demonſtrable from vvhat has been ſaid, that all ſuch Effects may be produc'd by a Prick of a Nail, a Stub, or a Fleak, when it ſticks in thoſe tender ſenſible Parts, […] [I]f there be any Fleak or Piece of Nail remaining in the Quick, vvhich may be knovvn by examining the Nail you have pull'd out, or by the continued Pain, with a conſtant Diſcharge of matter, you may introduce a Piece of dry Spunge, made in form of a Tent, vvith a Thread dravvn through the End of it: […]
ref: 1722, W[illiam] Gibson, “Of Retraits and Pricks in the Foot”, in The Farrier’s New Guide. […], 3rd edition, London: […] S. Palmer, for William Taylor, […], →OCLC, page 252:
qualifier: obsolete except British
glosses: Synonym of flake.
A thin piece that is chipped or peeled off from the surface of something else.
synonyms: word: chip
word: splinter
word: bit
word: chip
word: chunk
word: clip
word: crumb
word: crumbling
word: cutting
word: flake
word: fleak
word: fragment
word: hunk
word: lump
word: mammock
word: ort
word: piece
word: piecemeal
word: portion
word: scrap
word: scraplet
word: slice
word: snead
word: snippet
word: steck
examples: text: Upon Examination, I found that they [the fat] conſiſted of regular large Laminæ: vvhich vvere eaſily ſeparable from one another, in broad Fleaks; […]
ref: 1698 April, Edw[ard] Tyson, “Carigueya, seu Marsupiale Americanum. Or, The Anatomy of an Opossum, Dissected at Gresham-College by Edvv. Tyson, […]”, in Philosophical Transactions. Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies and Labours of the Ingenious, in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XX, number 239, London: […] Sam[uel] Smith and Benj[amin] Walford, printers to the Royal Society, […], →OCLC, page 139:
qualifier: obsolete except British
glosses: Synonym of flake.
A thin piece that the flesh of some animals (such as fish) tends to break into.