Meaning

• A loose filmy mass or a thin chiplike layer of anything

  "There were a few flakes of paint on the floor from when we were painting the walls."

• A scale of a fish or similar animal

• A prehistoric tool chipped out of stone.

• A person who is impractical, flighty, unreliable, or inconsistent; especially with maintaining a living.

  "She makes pleasant conversation, but she's kind of a flake when it comes time for action."

• A carnation with only two colours in the flower, the petals having large stripes.

• A flat turn or tier of rope.

Meaning

• To break or chip off in a flake.

  "The paint flaked off after only a year."

• To prove unreliable or impractical; to abandon or desert, to fail to follow through.

  "He said he'd come and help, but he flaked."

• To store an item such as rope or sail in layers

  "The line is flaked into the container for easy attachment and deployment."

• To hit (another person).