Flake n.
 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.”
    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.
 Flake knife Archæol., 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. (a) The purest white lead, in the form of flakes or scales. (b) The trisnitrate of bismuth.  --Ure.