flak
pronunciation
How to pronounce flak in British English:
UK [flæk]
How to pronounce flak in American English:
US [flæk]
-
- Noun:
- a slick spokesperson who can turn any criticism to the advantage of their employer
- intense adverse criticism
- artillery designed to shoot upward at airplanes
Word Origin
- flak (n.)
- 1938, "anti-aircraft gun," from German Flak, condensed from Fliegerabwehrkanone, literally "pilot warding-off cannon." Sense of "anti-aircraft fire" is from 1940; metaphoric sense of "criticism" is c. 1963 in American English. Flak jacket is by 1956.
Example
- 1. Mr. zuma has drawn flak for refusing to fire officials for poor performance .
- 2. No shells or flak fell on the island during the morning .
- 3. Taking internal flak , however , is a key element in an opposition 's rehabilitation , as both david cameron and tony blair knew .
- 4. During the second world war , british and american scientists devised scores of devious electronic countermeasures designed to trick nazi radar and divert flak and fighters away from allied bomber streams .
- 5. Fortune -- for all the flak china gets over its exchange rate and other economic policies , it 's hard not to wonder if the asian giant might be doing more good for the u.s. economy than most people realize .