flackn.1
/flak/, U.S. /flæk/ dialect.
A blow, slap, or stroke.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > impact > striking > [noun] > a stroke or blow
dintc897
swengOE
shutec1000
kill?c1225
swipc1275
stroke1297
dentc1325
touchc1325
knock1377
knalc1380
swapc1384
woundc1384
smitinga1398
lush?a1400
sowa1400
swaipa1400
wapc1400
smita1425
popc1425
rumbelowc1425
hitc1450
clope1481
rimmel1487
blow1488
dinga1500
quartera1500
ruska1500
tucka1500
recounterc1515
palta1522
nolpc1540
swoop1544
push1561
smot1566
veny1578
remnant1580
venue1591
cuff1610
poltc1610
dust1611
tank1686
devel1787
dunching1789
flack1823
swinge1823
looder1825
thrash1840
dolk1861
thresh1863
mace-blow1879
pulsation1891
nosebleeder1921
slosh1936
smackeroo1942
dab-
1823 E. Moor Suffolk Words 127 Flack, a blow.
a1825 R. Forby Vocab. E. Anglia (1830) Flack, a blow, particularly with something loose and pliant.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
flackn.2
/flak/, U.S. /flæk/ slang (chiefly U.S.).
A press agent; a publicity man.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > business of advertising > [noun] > activities of press agents > press or publicity agent
press agent1814
press secretary1880
publicist1904
press officer1915
publicitor1935
flack1946
huckster1946
flackman1966
promo man1977
1946 ‘S. Sterling’ Where there's Smoke xiii. 99 That publicity flack is here.
1961 A. Berkman Singers' Gloss. Show Business Jargon 23 Flack, a member of the Publicity Department (usually of a motion picture studio); press agent.
1966 L. Charbonneau Way Out xiv. 102 And all of a sudden my flack friend believes in his own fairy tales.
1968 C. Drummond Death & Leaping Ladies v. 120 They were booked to do ten matches in Mexico City; Bull, their flack, had lined up the opposition.
Draft additions 1993
flackman n. originally U.S. = main sense; also, more loosely, an apologist or supporter.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > advertising > business of advertising > [noun] > activities of press agents > press or publicity agent
press agent1814
press secretary1880
publicist1904
press officer1915
publicitor1935
flack1946
huckster1946
flackman1966
promo man1977
1966 S. Freberg (title of comedy sketch) The flackman and Reagan! [from record Freberg Underground Show No. 1].
1973 Daily Tel. 8 Dec. 10/3 Of his [sc. Nixon's] principal flackmen and cronies,..a large and increasing number are now in jail.
1987 Spectator 21 Mar. 21/2 No amount of money, and no flackman genius, can sell Kinnock's policy to the President.
1989 Boston Globe 28 Mar. 30/1 The April 3 issue is a flackman's dream with a cover on Disney World.
Draft additions 1993
ˈflackery n. the activity of press agents; public relations; promotion, ‘hype’.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > [noun] > person who > female > activity of
flackery1962
1962 Time 20 Apr. 68/1 With the usual whiff of flackery, commuters making the maiden voyage were given life memberships in the Commuter Yacht Club.
1967 Maclean's Apr. 110/2 Belly-Button..happens to be a very funny book. Funny enough, perhaps, to sell well even without flim-flam or flackery.
1976 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 5 July 7/3 Restaurants where, the flackery holds, it may take anywhere up to six months to get a reservation.
1986 Fortune 26 May 100/1 The possibility that acid depositions in North American watersheds may have been overstated owing to high-level flackery.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
flackv.1
/flak/, U.S. /flæk/ Obsolete exc. dialect.
1. intransitive. To flap, flutter; to flap the wings; to throb, palpitate.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > alternating or reciprocating motion > pulsation > pulsate [verb (intransitive)]
beatc1200
quopa1382
quavea1387
flack1393
flackerc1400
whopc1440
flicker1488
throb1788
pulse1851
pulsate1861
the world > animals > birds > flight > [verb (intransitive)] > flap or flutter
fluttera1000
flickerc1000
bate1398
fanc1400
flackerc1400
abatea1475
flack1567
bat1614
beata1616
flusker1660
flop1692
flap1776
flick1853
the world > movement > progressive motion > moving with current of air or water > motion in the air > move in the air [verb (intransitive)] > flutter
flickerc1000
flackerc1400
flitter1483
quitter1513
flack1567
fleck1567
flusker1660
flaffer17..
flit1700
skimmer1824
flutter1853
volitate1866
flurry1883
1393 J. Gower Confessio Amantis III. 315 Her herte..[began] to flacke and bete.
1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest f. 71 The Crow..flieth and flacketh about his eies and face.
1788 W. Marshall Provincialisms E. Yorks. in Rural Econ. Yorks. II. 328 Flack, to flicker as a bird; to throb as a wound.
1876 C. C. Robinson Gloss. Words Dial. Mid-Yorks. Flack, to pulsate heavily.
2. To hang loosely. dialect.
ΚΠ
a1825 Forby in Voc. E. Anglia.
1847 in J. O. Halliwell Dict. Archaic & Provinc. Words
3. transitive. To move or shake intermittently; to flap, flick; also, to flap or flick with (something). (Connoting a clumsier instrument and a ‘flatter’ blow than flick.)
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > motion in specific manner > move in specific manner [verb (transitive)] > move lightly or briskly > make light movement with
frisk1665
flirta1706
flack1751
flicker1843
flick1844
1751 R. Paltock Life Peter Wilkins I. xiii. 131 I observed it..frequently flacking its short Tail.
1819 Metropolis (ed. 2) I. 58 He now flacked his boot with a silk handkerchief.
1859 G. A. Sala Gaslight & Daylight xxxiii. 385 Flacking his horsewhip.
1870 Daily Tel. 20 Aug. 3 Flacking his cloak in the eyes of a huge bull.
4. Agriculture. To beat with a flail; also to rake (hay).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of grain > [verb (transitive)] > thresh
threshOE
tread1382
stampa1425
berry1483
fine1579
thrash1594
to beat out1611
flack1743
cob1796
flail1821
scutch1844
strip1861
1743 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandman Dec. x. 71 They..flack the Heap of Corn not only once as it lies, but they turn it, and thrash it again and again.
1891 C. Wordsworth Rutland Words Flack in, to rake hay in a long row.
Derivatives
ˈflacking n. the action of the verb.
ΘΚΠ
the world > animals > birds > flight > [noun] > flap or flutter
flickeringc1440
bating1486
flushing1582
flurr1651
clapping1726
flacking1844
1844 Zoologist 2 500 The flight was quite distinct from the ‘flacking along the water’ of which Mr. Parsons speaks.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
flackv.2
/flak/, U.S. /flæk/ North American colloquial.
1. intransitive. To act as a press agent or promoter (for a person); hence, in extended use, to disseminate favourable publicity or information; to proselytize.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publish or spread abroad [verb (intransitive)] > act as press agent or promoter (for a person)
flack1966
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publish or spread abroad [verb (intransitive)] > disseminate favourable publicity or information
flack1966
1966 Time 25 Mar. 55/2 Since he flacked for Fanny he has refined his methods.
1970 Time 15 June 40/3 The newsman fired by Washington's WETA-TV because his wife was hired to flack for Martha Mitchell.
1975 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 6 Dec. 3/2 Charges that the local news media shamelessly flack for the organizing committee.
1983 National Rev. (U.S.) 30 Sept. 1226/1 Never mind your dream, Buster—forget cement or pest control—start flacking for Rubin.
1984 Forbes 30 Jan. 108/1 You could cite the country's poverty... You might even fault the tourism board for not flacking hard enough. Whatever, Americans are not flocking to India as they are to other, more expensive destinations.
2. transitive. To promote or speak in favour of (a person or thing), to ‘sell’; to retail or disseminate (information, etc.) to this end.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publish or spread abroad [verb (transitive)] > publicize or bring to public notice
shovec1385
publish1529
posta1640
publicize1832
eclat1835
promo1960
flack1975
society > communication > information > publishing or spreading abroad > publish or spread abroad [verb (transitive)] > retail or disseminate (information, etc.)
flack1975
1975 J. K. Galbraith Money vii. 83 William Jennings Bryan..was reduced at the end of his life to flacking Florida real estate.
1977 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 16 Mar. 8/1 There was Marshall McLuhan receiving an honorary degree, presumably in honor of the gibberish he has flacked in the name of communications.
1985 Chicago Tribune v. 13 p/2 ‘I'm in an awkward position,’ she explained. ‘It doesn't do anyone any good to attack work you've just done,’ and yet she said if she ‘flakked it’ she'd feel guilty about luring people into the theaters.
1986 Christian Sci. Monitor 15 Jan. 28/2 A few dozen homemade chocolate chip cookies, which they flacked with free samples from the Mrs. Fields Chocolate Chippery.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1993; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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