flak

See also: Flak, FlaK, flák, and fłȧk

English

Alternative forms

• flack (adverse criticism and spokesperson senses)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flæk/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• 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.

     There goes the siren that warns of the air raid / Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak / Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne / Got to get up for the coming attack.

   • 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]
   • 1981 June 25, Michael Sragow, “Inside ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ - The ultimate Saturday matinee”, in Rolling Stone‎^[1]:

     There’s always been a built-in backlash against big-scale caprices like Raiders of the Lost Ark from people who think that $20 million should be spent on more than entertainment for its own sake. Raiders may also get flak for not being as cuddly-lovable as Star Wars, or for using those old reliables – the Nazis – as villains, or for dazzling the audience with an almost brazen self-confidence.

   • 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.

   • 2011 December 10, Marc Higginson, “Bolton 1 - 2 Aston Villa”, in BBC Sport‎^[2]:

     Alex McLeish, perhaps mindful of the flak he has been taking from sections of the Villa support for a perceived negative style of play, handed starts to wingers Charles N'Zogbia and Albrighton.

   • 2022 January 12, Tom Allett, “Network News: MPs concerned at Treasury's influence on rail industry”, in RAIL, number 948, page 13:

     More flak was aimed at the Treasury's apparent lack of marketing skills, when it was argued that its idea of how to sell tickets was along the lines of "you can get two tickets for the price of two", and it lacks the sales and promotional skills of the train operating companies which are needed to boost revenue.

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.

Derived terms

• flak catcher
• take the flak

 

Translations

ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 高射炮 (zh) (gāoshèpào)

• Danish: antiluftskyts (da) n
• Dutch: luchtafweergeschut (nl)
• Finnish: ilmatorjuntatykki (fi) (individually), ilmatorjuntatykistö (fi) (collectively)
• French: lutte anti-aérienne f, DCA (fr) f, défense anti-aérienne f
• German: Fliegerabwehrkanone (de), Flugabwehrkanone (de)
• Russian: зени́тное ору́дие n (zenítnoje orúdije), зени́тка (ru) f (zenítka)
• Serbo-Croatian: protuzračna artiljerija f, protivvazdušna artiljerija
• Spanish: fuego antiaéreo

anti-aircraft shell fire

• Danish: antiluftskytsgranat
• Dutch: luchtafweergranaten
• Finnish: ilmatorjuntatuli (fi)
• Spanish: fuego antiaéreo

adverse criticism

• Catalan: critica adversa f
• Dutch: afbrekende kritiek
• Finnish: tykitys (fi)
• Italian: criticismo avverso m, critica avversa f
• Portuguese: criticismo mau m, criticismo adverso m
• Russian: перекрёстный ого́нь m (perekrjóstnyj ogónʹ), разно́с (ru) m (raznós), взбу́чка (ru) f (vzbúčka), втык (ru) m (vtyk), вы́волочка (ru) f (vývoločka)
• Serbo-Croatian: oštra kritika f
• Spanish: criticismo adverso m

a public-relations spokesperson

• Dutch: woordvoerder (nl)
• Serbo-Croatian: glasnogovornik (sh) m, glasnogovornica (sh) f

See also

• flak jacket

Anagrams

• KLFA, Falk, 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 ληκάω (lēkáō, “to dance to music”)).

Verb

flak (aorist flaka, participle flakur)

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

Related terms

• fletë

Icelandic

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /flaːk/
• Rhymes: -aːk

Noun

flak n (genitive singular flaks, nominative plural flök)

1. wreck

   Synonym: rekald

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

   Synonym: flak af fiski

Declension

Declension of flak (neuter)

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	flak	flakið	flök	flökin
accusative	flak	flakið	flök	flökin
dative	flaki	flakinu	flökum	flökunum
genitive	flaks	flaksins	flaka	flakanna

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): /flɑːk/

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

flaki

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle High German vlëcke.

Pronunciation

 

• IPA^(key): /ˈflak/

• (Lesser Poland):
  • (Goral):
    • (Żywiec) IPA^(key): /ˈfla.ki/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ak
• Syllabification: flak

Noun

flak m inan (diminutive flaczek, related adjective flakowy)

1. sausage casing made from animal intestine

   Synonym: kiszka

2. part of animal entrails
3. (colloquial) flat tyre (deflated tyre)
4. (colloquial) weak, exhausted person

   Synonym: dętka

5. (in the plural) traditional tripe soup made from the stomach of a cow, occasionally also deer
6. (colloquial or dialectal, Żywiec, chiefly in the plural, of human anatomy) entrails, guts, innards, intestines, viscera (internal organs of the abdominal and thoracic cavities)

   Synonyms: bebechy, jelita, trzewia, wątpia, wnętrzności

Declension

Declension of flak

	singular	plural
nominative	flak	flaki
genitive	flaka	flaków
dative	flakowi	flakom
accusative	flak	flaki
instrumental	flakiem	flakami
locative	flaku	flakach
vocative	flaku	flaki

Derived terms

adjectives

• flakowaty

 

nouns

• flaczarka
• flaczarnia
• flaczarz

 

verbs

• flaczeć impf
• sflaczeć pf

 

Related terms

adjectives

• sflaczały

 

adverbs

• flakowato

 

nouns

• flakowatość

 

verbs

• flakowacieć impf

 

Further reading

• flak in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• flaki in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• flak in Polish dictionaries at PWN
• flaki in PWN's encyclopedia
• Izydor Kopernicki (1875) “flaki”, in Rozprawy i Sprawozdania z Posiedzeń Wydziału Filologicznego Akademii Umiejętności (I), volume 3, Kraków: Akademia Umiejętności, page 369

Swedish

De är på flaket [They are on the bed (of the truck)]

en bil (pickup) med flak [a car [sounds more natural in Swedish than in English, from being more car-sized – compare lastbil (“truck”), which it is also, technically] (pickup truck) with a bed]

tippflak på dumper [dumper body of an articulated hauler dump truck]

Han håller i ett ölflak [He is holding a case of beer (sense 3)]

Etymology

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

Noun

flak n

1. a larger, relatively flat piece, especially an ice floe; a floe, etc.

   Synonym: (ice floe) isflak

3. a bed; a flatbed; a box ((open) bed of a vehicle, like a (pickup, dump, etc.) truck, trailer, moped with a cargo bed, etc.)

   Lägg den på flaket

   Put it on the (truck / cargo) bed

5. a 24-pack of (usually beer) cans; a case, (Australia) a carton

Usage notes

Usually of a truck bed in (sense 2). Often specifically of the bed floor when of a trailer, for example when giving its dimensions (flakmått). For a trailer, it would normally be more natural to say "Lägg den på släpet" (Put it on the trailer) or the like as well.

Declension

Declension of flak

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	flak	flaks
	definite	flaket	flakets
plural	indefinite	flak	flaks
	definite	flaken	flakens

Related terms

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

See also

• baklucka
• dumper
• pickup
• sexpack
• släp
• släpvagn
• trailer

References

• flak in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• flak in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• flak in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)

Anagrams

• falk