flask

¹

[ flask, flahsk ]

noun

1. a bottle, usually of glass, having a rounded body and a narrow neck, used especially in laboratory experimentation.
2. a flat metal or glass bottle for carrying in the pocket:

   a flask of brandy.

3. an iron container for shipping mercury, holding a standard commercial unit of 76 pounds (34 kilograms).
4. Metallurgy. a container into which sand is rammed around a pattern to form a mold.

flask

²

[ flask, flahsk ]

noun

, Ordnance.

1. the armored plates making up the sides of a gun-carriage trail.
2. Obsolete. the bed of a gun carriage.

flask

/ flɑːsk /

noun

1. a bottle with a narrow neck, esp used in a laboratory or for wine, oil, etc
2. Also calledhip flask a small flattened container of glass or metal designed to be carried in a pocket, esp for liquor
3. See powder flask
4. a container packed with sand to form a mould in a foundry
5. See vacuum flask
6. Also calledcaskcoffin engineering a container used for transporting irradiated nuclear fuel

flask

/ flăsk /

1. A rounded container with a long neck, used in laboratories.

Word History and Origins

Origin of flask¹

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English: “cask, keg,” from Anglo-French, Old French flaske, Late Latin flasca, earlier flascō, of uncertain origin; compare Old English flasce, flaxe, Old High German flasca ( German flasche ); flagon

Origin of flask²

1570–80; < dialectal French flasque cheek of a gun carriage < Late Latin flasca flask ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of flask¹

C14: from Old French flasque, flaske , from Medieval Latin flasca, flasco , perhaps of Germanic origin; compare Old English flasce, flaxe

Example Sentences

On a Friday night in September 1971, a group of men, clutching sandwiches and flasks of tea, made their way into SAC, a leather goods shop on Baker Street.

From BBC

You had a glass syringe with a steel needle that you sent away to get sharpened and you had to boil them up on the stove, and keep them in a flask.

From BBC

This was when Hill said she hit her victim with a flask and then, when the 90-year-old continued to shout, smothered her.

From BBC

The infant was at a picnic with his family at a suburban park on 31 August, when witnesses say a “strange man” approached, emptying a flask on the child before fleeing on foot.

From BBC

The white flasks stamped with the Olympic rings and the Paris 2024 mascot, or the flame, were issued in August last year and sold until June.

From BBC

Related Words

• beaker
• canteen
• carafe
• chalice
• decanter
• jug
• urn
• vial