flask
/ˈflæsk/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.20 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
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.
noun
A container used to discreetly carry a small amount of a hard alcoholic beverage; a pocket flask.
noun
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.
noun
A bed in a gun carriage.
Example Sentences
- "Over the years, the railway has been the safest way to move hazardous chemicals, radioactive waste, fuel for Royal Navy nuclear submarines and imported fuel for reprocessing, as well as flasks containing fuel rods to and from British power stations."
Etymology
From Middle English flask, flaske (“case, cask, keg”), from Old English flasce, flaxe (“bottle, flask”) and Medieval Latin flascō (“bottle”); from Frankish *flaskā; both from Proto-Germanic *flaskǭ (“braid-covered bottle, wicker-enclosed jug”), from Proto-Indo-European *ploḱ-skō (“flat”), or from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to weave”). Doublet of fiasco, flacon, and flagon. Related to Dutch fles; also German Low German Flaske, Fless, German Flasche, Danish flaske; also Lithuanian plókščias, Czech ploský, Albanian flashkët. The sense “laboratory glassware” is from Italian fiasco, and the sense “container for holding a casting mold” is from Middle French flasque (“powder flask”), itself from Old Spanish flasco, frasco, both from Late Latin above.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: flask, flasce, flascō, *flaskā, *flaskǭ, *ploḱ-skō
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈflæsk/
- British English: /ˈflɑːsk/