a small, flat, very thin piece of something, typically one which has broken away or been peeled off from a larger piece

he licked the flakes of croissant off his finger

an unreliable, eccentric, or unconventional person

I told my husband she was a flake and she'd never show up

come or fall away from a surface in flakes

the paint had been flaking off for years

separate (food) into flakes or thin pieces

flake the fish

fail to keep an appointment or fulfil a commitment, especially with little or no advance notice

a real friend won't ever flake on you

twice, you had plans, and both times you flaked

a rack or shelf for storing or drying food such as fish

a single turn of a coiled rope or hawser

lay (a rope) in loose coils in order to prevent it tangling

a cable had to be flaked out

fall asleep or drop from exhaustion

he got back in time to flake out until morning

fail to keep an appointment or fulfil a commitment, especially with little or no advance notice

he flakes out on plans all the time for no good reason

many volunteers flake out after the first meeting