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  1. flak love

Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. Antiaircraft artillery.
  2. n. The bursting shells fired from such artillery.
  3. n. Informal Excessive or abusive criticism.
  4. n. Informal Dissension; opposition.

Wiktionary

  1. n. Ground-based anti-aircraft guns firing explosive shells.
  2. n. Anti-aircraft shell fire.
  3. n. figuratively, informal Adverse criticism.
  4. n. informal A public-relations spokesperson.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer
  2. n. artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes
  3. n. intense adverse criticism

Etymologies

  1. German acronym of Fliegerabwehrkanone ("aeroplane defence cannon"). First attested 1938 as “antiaircraft gun”, 1940 as “antiaircraft fire”. Sense of “adverse criticism” attested since 1963 in American English. (Wiktionary)
  2. German, from Fl(ieger)a(bwehr)k(anone), aircraft-defense gun. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)

Examples

  • “So whenever you hear some label flak claiming 98% of the bands they sign lose money for the company, substitute the phrase "just don't earn enough" for the word "lose.”

    p2pnet news

  • “I will note also that she has taken some flak from the left because “too many” white males were hired.”

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Kagan and Diversity Hiring

  • “He will always face flak from the minority of introducing romance to Doctor Who.”

    I'm going waaaaaaay back on my LJ

  • “Also she has taken enough flak from the bias media.”

    Johnston: Palin wanted to take the money, 'forget everything else'

  • “Our second annual spring trip to the Upper Catch and Release Area of the Miller's River, my father caught this nice brown trout, and caught flak from the elitists because he was using the fly rod with a spinning reel and rooster tail and catching fish, while the elitist fly fishers were getting skunked all morning.”

    Field & Stream

  • “I've had no flak from the boobs POV because there are none to be found.”

    Shoot me now.

  • “Considering the flak from the left and right, I'd say Obama's got it just about right.”

    Stimulus money needs to be spent faster, Dems say

  • “You reveal yourself fully not when times are flush — but when the flak is heavy, and these so-called tough guys couldn't break a thumbhold from a trembling Barney Fife.”

    The Ill-Served GET Served.

  • “I don't mind taking flak (and if a paper endorses, or chooses not to endorse, any candidate, flak is certain to be incoming), but I wasn't part of those decisions.”

    Your Right Hand Thief

  • “Santa punches a button, releasing a cloud of flak from the sleigh's rear.”

    Archive 2007-12-01

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synonyms (3)

Words with the same meaning

  1. triple-A
  1. ack-ack
  1. AAA

hypernyms (6)

Words that are more generic or abstract

  1. spokesperson
  1. representative
  1. interpreter
  1. voice
  1. unfavorable judgment
  1. criticism

same context (23)

Words that are found in similar contexts

  1. anti-aircraft
  2. panzer
  3. machine gun
  4. artillery
  1. aa
  2. searchlight
  3. bomber
  4. divisional
  1. antiarmor
  2. aviation
  3. howitzer
  4. shrapnel
  1. mechanize
  2. ground-based
  3. naval
  4. antiair
  1. 88-mm
  2. long-range
  3. nonlethal
  4. armored
  1. airborne
  2. anti-tank
  3. missile

rhymes (64)

Words with the same terminal sound

  1. Adak
  2. Black
  3. Braque
  4. Chirac
  5. Jack
  6. Jacques
  7. Lak
  8. Mac
  9. Mack
  10. Macke
  11. Sac
  12. Zack
  1. Zak
  2. aback
  3. ack
  4. attack
  5. back
  6. black
  7. brack
  8. clack
  9. crack
  10. dak
  11. fac
  12. flack
  1. hack
  2. haque
  3. jack
  4. knack
  5. knick-knack
  6. lac
  7. lack
  8. lak
  9. mac
  10. mack
  11. mak
  12. nack
  1. pac
  2. pack
  3. pak
  4. plack
  5. plaque
  6. quack
  7. rack
  8. repack
  9. sac
  10. sack
  11. sak
  12. shack
  1. slack
  2. smack
  3. snack
  4. spack
  5. stack
  6. tac
  7. tack
  8. track
  9. unpack
  10. wack
  11. whack
  12. wrack
  1. yack
  2. yak
  3. zack
  4. zak

reverse dictionary (1)

Words that contain this word in their definition

  1. flack

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Lists

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Comments

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  • fbharjo whatever flies! Jun 5, 2009

  • seanahan Very interesting etymology from etymonline, "acronym for Fliegerabwehrkanone 'airplane defense cannon.'" Jun 5, 2009

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‘flak’ has been looked up 2711 times, loved by 1 person, added to 17 lists, commented on 2 times, and has a Scrabble score of 11.